CIHM 
Microfiche 


(l\Aonographs) 


ICIMH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographies) 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microraproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  da  microroproductions  historiquas 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
the  Images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below. 


D 


Coloured  covers  / 
Couverture  de  couleur 


□   Covers  damaged  / 
Couverture  endommag^e 

□   Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pellicui^e 

Cover  title  missing  /  Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

I Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  g^ographiques  en  couleur 

□   Coloured  ink  (I.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)  / 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

□    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations  / 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material  / 
ReliS  avec  d'autres  documents 

Only  edition  available  / 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion  along 
interior  margin  /  La  reliure  serr6e  peut  causer  de 
I'ombre  ou  de  la  distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge 
int^rieure. 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restorations  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have  been 
omitted  from  filming  /  II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages 
blanches  ajout^es  lors  d'une  restauration 
apparaissent  dans  le  texte,  mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait 
possible,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  et6  film6es. 


D 
D 
D 


D 


7 


Additional  comments  / 
Commentaires  supp!6mentaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire  qu'il  lul  a 
6\6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details  de  cet  exem- 
plaire qui  sont  peu^^etre  uniques  du  point  de  vue  bibli- 
ographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image  reproduite, 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modification  dans  la  m6tho- 
de  normale  de  filmage  sont  indiqu^s  ci-dessous. 

I      I  Coloured  pages  /  Pages  de  couleur 

I I  Pages  damaged  /  Pages  endommag6es 


n 


Pages  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pellicul^es 


foxed  / 
ou  piqu^es 


0   Pages  discoloured,  stained  or 
Pages  d^color^es,  tachet^es  < 

I      I  Pages  detached  /  Pages  d6tach6es 

\y\  Shov^rthrough / Transparence 

I      I   Quality  of  print  varies  / 


D 
0 


D 


Quality  in^gale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material  / 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppl^mentaire 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata  slips, 
tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  totalement  ou 
partiellement  obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une 
pelure,  etc.,  ont  6t6  film^es  k  nouveau  de  fa?on  k 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 

Opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 
discolourations  are  filmed  twice  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  s'opposant  ayant  des 
colorations  variables  ou  des  decolorations  sont 
film^es  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la  meilleure  image 
possible. 


Various  paglngs. 


This  it 
Cedo 

lOx 

em  is  filmed  8t  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below  / 
cument  est  U\n\6  au  taux  de  reduction  Indiqui  cl-dessous. 

14x                               18x 

22x 

26x 

30x 

y 

12x 

16x 

20x 

24x 

28x 

32x 

Th«  copy  filmed  h«r«  has  b««n  rsproducad  thanks 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

McMaster  University 
Hamilton,  Ontario 

Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
poMibIa  considarinc  tha  condition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacificationa. 


L'axamplaira  filmA  fut  raproduit  grica  i  la 
gAnArositi  da: 

McHaster  University 
Hamilton,  Ontario 

Laa  imagaa  tuivantas  ont  tti  raproduitat  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  l'axamplaira  film*,  at  an 
conformity  avac  laa  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 


Original  copias  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  fllmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
sion.  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copias  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illuatratad  imprassion. 


Laa  axamplairaa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
papiar  aat  imprimAa  sont  filmte  an  commanpant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  soit  par  la 
darniAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'imprassion  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  la  sacond 
plat,  aalon  la  caa.  Tous  las  autraa  axamplairas 
originaux  sont  filmAs  an  commanpant  par  la 
pramiAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraasion  ou  d'illustration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darniira  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  — ^  Imaaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  Y  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appliaa. 

Mapa.  platas,  charts,  ate.  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  reduction  ratios.  Thosa  too  larga  to  ba 
antiraly  includad  in  ona  axposura  ara  filmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  cornar.  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framas  aa 
roquirad.  Tha  following  diagrams  illuatrata  tha 
mathod: 


Un  daa  symbolaa  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
darniira  imaga  da  chaqua  microficha.  salon  la 
caa:  la  symbols  ^^  signifia  "A  SUIVRE".  la 
symbols  Y  signifia  "FIN  ". 

Laa  cartaa.  planchas.  tablaaux.  ate.  peuvant  itre 
filmte  A  das  taux  da  reduction  diff^rants. 
Lorsqua  la  document  ast  trop  grand  pour  itra 
raproduit  an  un  saul  clich*.  il  ast  filmi  A  partir 
da  Tangla  supiriaur  gaucha.  da  gaucha  A  droita. 
at  da  haut  an  baa.  an  pranant  la  nombra 
d"imaga8  nAcassaira.  Las  diagrammas  suivants 
illuatrant  la  m^thoda. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

MICTOCOPY   RESCIUTKM   TiST  CHART 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No   2) 


^     APPLIED  IIVHGE 


'653    Fost    Ma"i    Street 

Rochester,    hjew    Yorh  1 4609        USA 

(716)   482  -O500-Phor,e 

(716)    2B8  -  5989  ~  Tq- 


^ 


christian  Missions 

and 

Social  Progress 


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Mk.      1  AK  Mi  \-HI     'i>'Ki>. 

Ki  V.   K.  S.  Mv  I  o,   H.l>* 


Translators   oi    thi    Biiu-i.   im<i   Jai-anese. 


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ca„un.    The  completed  Bib"e  wa.  iiued  in  X      "        ""  '"^""""1^  committee  bc^ilc  piw' 


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Christian   Missions /w    "   'v 

and  i^  [ ilutnioa^  • 


Social   Progress 


uiK 


A  Sociological  Study  of  Foreign  Missions 


By  the 
Rev.  James  S.   Dennis,  D.D. 

Studenli'  Lecturer  on  Mis-  on»,  Princeton,  1893  and  1896;  Author  of 

"  Foreign  Misitions  After  a  Century  "  ;  Meiiiber  of  the  American 

Preibyterian  Mission,  Beirut,  Syria 


"  Thut,  with  somewhat  of  the  Seer, 
Mutt  the  moral  pioneer 

From  the  Future  burrow: 
Clothe  the  waits  with  dreuini  uf  grain, 
And,  on  midnight's  >lcy  uf  rain. 
Paint  the  golden  murrow." 

JuHN  Crhnliaf  Whittih 

In  Three  Volumes 
Vol.  II. 


m^ 


Wt!.^»5< 


New  York 


Chicago 


Toronto 


Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 


M  DCCC  XCIX 


Copyright,  1899,  by 
Fuming  H.  Rkvell  Company 


TYFOGKAreV  BY  THB  DK  VINN«  fUU 


PREFACE 


The  attempt  to  collate  the  manifold  results  of  modern  missions  and 
to  present  m  an  orderly  and  comprehensive  survey  their  barings  inon 
so  .a  progress.  ,s  a  task  which  has  not  been  free  from  difficultfes    nor 

ex  c  n';:^^^^^^^^^  '!"Ptf  ^  accomplished,  without  patient' and 

exactmg  labor  The  original  plan  of  issuing  this  work  in  two  volumes 
made  before  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking  was  realized  has  Zv 

™s  o  Lecturl^^^^^  1  T"'""  ^'^  '""^  "'"^■-"^  ^'-^°-.  - 
.Tfi  ?  ^^^'"<=7I-'  ^"d  also  extended  statistical  summaries  giving 
a  deta.edsun.ey  o   missionary  operations  throughout  the  world 

preslnted  in  thLT  :  T  ^'"  '''  '""  ^°^"  °^  ^'^'^  demonstration 
presented  in  this  treatise  does  not  depend  alone  upon  the  measure  of 

soc,a,  .ansformation  which  has  been  actually  accom'plish      by Ts^  on 

tTat^t  hrv^r^itr^^^^^^ 

denr.  J  ."^  Searching.  The  argument  rests  rather  upon  the  evi- 
socia   h  n  "■"'  °'"  *'"'^"^y  •■"  "■■-■-"y  -^'v-ties  to  work  for 

ri^trtir  ^fTcrbrr"•^  ^—^  -""^^- 

dence  now  Hf  J«        i ,      .  ^  '"''''^  apparent,  on  the  basis  of  evi- 

w^ll  be  Lit  '  '^''  '^'  '°"^'""^'  ^"^--  «f  '"'«-o""y  effort 

lose  1  7     T'"  ""  '"""'■*'  """"'^^  ^™>'^^  but  more  decisive  than 

Then::ef  zr'f''^  r  ''''^"  ^'^^^^  °^ ""---  ---  -"g^" 

supply  fo'es  which"    mT  '':  ''"''"  ^'"^'^  ^^  environment  and  to 

fit  Z^IT-"'"''^"  °i  ^  ""''■"  ^^^""'^  P^^P^^*'  °»  God's  part  to  bene- 

HrdeXns  s  m,    r?'  *™'  ^"^'^^  '^""'^^  ^'^^  accomplishment  of 

H    hL  fnau'Tated      '      "  "''"'  "'"'  ^"^^'^^^  ^''^  ---^-n  that 

to  a  fil  tsril^  rrr"^  ^'^-^'^  "<=  -'-ds  to  carry  through 

final  issue,  then  unbelief  may  well  give  place  to  certitude.     VVe 


^  PREFACE  ^ 

may  quietly  fulfil  our  task  in  a  spirit  of  hearty  and  cheerful  obedience, 
leaving  the  question  of  results  with  God.  Faith  when  thus  supported 
and  established  need  never  falter. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  the  validity  of  the  argument,  nor  would  it  be 
fair  or  right,  to  claim  that  missions  represent  the  only  agency  working 
in  the  interests  of  civilization,  thus  excluding  or  minimizing  the  co6pera- 
tion  of  a  wise  and  upright  government  policy,  whether  foreign  or  native, 
and  of  honorable  commercial  enterprise.  Christianity  has  its  own 
sphere  and  its  distinct  mission.  It  works  steadily  in  the  direction 
of  moral  enlightenment  and  discipline,  and  at  the  same  time  arraigns 
the  evils  and  corruptions  of  society  in  a  spirit  which  seeks  their  refor- 
mation or  extinction.  In  its  special  domain  of  the  higher  hfe  of  the  soul 
its  influence  is  unsurpassed,  and  its  power  is  superior  to  law  or  force ; 
yet  a  righteous  administration  on  the  part  of  civil  rulers  is  a  cooperat- 
ing instrumentality  of  immense  value.  Where  a  wise  and  liberal  policy 
on  the  part  of  colonial  officials  or  native  rulers  acts  in  sympathy  and 
harmony  with  missionary  effort,  and  in  its  own  sphere  guarantees  civil 
and  religious  freedom,  generous  economic  privileges,  and  just  legisla- 
tive enactments,  with  an  open  door  for  native  progress,  the  advance  in 
social  betterment  is  sure  to  be  greatly  accelerated. 

The  service  of  missionaries,  although  a  quiet  factor  in  the  growth  of 
civilization,  making  no  great  stir  in  the  worid,  produces  effects  which 
are  of  decisive  import  in  social,  and  even  national,  development. 
When  we  consider  the  comparatively  small  number  of  laborers— only 
a  few  thousand,  widely  dispersed  in  many  lands,  and  in  the  case  of  medi- 
cal missionaries  only  a  few  hundred— the  results  are  remarkable  in  their 
volume  and  dynamic  force.  This,  however,  is  a  point  which  may  well 
be  left  to  the  judgment  of  intelligent  readers,  who,  as  they  scan  these 
pages,  will  recognize  hidden  currents  of  power  revealed  in  missionary 
influence,  and  discover  mar\-elous  sequences  of  spiritual  forces  which 
work  and  give  no  sign  until  suddenly— sometimes  unexpectedly- 
mighty  social  changes  come  quietly  to  pass  and  silently  join  the  march 
of  history.  In  a  sense  altogether  unique,  Christian  missionaries  may 
be  regarded  as  the  makers  of  the  twentieth-century  manhood  of  advanc- 
ing races.  They  stand  for  upward  social  movements  among  backward 
peoples.  There  are  indications  that  strong  and  earnest  minds  in  Chris- 
tian circles  fully  recognize  this  fact,  and  regard  the  foreign  mission  en- 
terprise with  deepening  interest  and  ampler  vision.  The  transcendent 
significance  of  the  purpose  of  God  is  becoming  more  apparent ;  the 
sublimity  of  the  task  as  a  divinely  appointed  method,  its  power  as 
a  divinely  commissioned  agency,  its  increasing  momentum  as  a  world- 


PREFACE 


-i 


embracing  movement,  are  arresting,  perhaps  as  never  before  in  modem 
times,  the  attention  of  all  who  hope  and  pray  for  the  coming  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom. 

The  question  may  possibly  arise  in  some  minds  whether  the 
sociological  and  humanitarian  aspects  of  missions  have  not  been  dis- 
proportionately emphasized  in  the  following  pages.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  this  cannot  be  true,  since  the  supreme  spiritual  value 
and  glory  of  the  Gospel  to  the  individual  soul  have  nowhere  been 
denied  or  depreciated.  Civilization,  it  is  acknowledged,  is  not  the 
chief  aim  of  missions,  nor  does  the  general  betterment  of  society 
represent  their  highest  motive.  At  the  same  time,  we  should  gladly 
note  the  amazing  effects  of  the  Christian  religion,  wherever  accepted, 
in  producing  a  nobler  moral  tone  and  a  better  social  environment.  A 
soul  which  is  saved  by  the  Gospel  is  redeemed  for  this  world  as  well  as 
for  the  next.  The  benefits  received  here,  and  the  resultant  good  in  present 
relationships,  are  worthy  of  appreciation,  as  well  as  the  fruition  gained 
for  eternity.  The  missionary  evangel  is  in  reality  the  inspiration  of  all 
the  higher  social  moralities  recorded  in  these  volumes,  and  in  this  we 
may  rejoice  without  hesitation  and  be  thankful  without  apologies. 

The  author  trusts  that  the  book,  as  a  review  of  united  Christian 
effort  on  the  part  of  many  different  agencies  in  foreign  fields,  may  help 
to  broaden  the  vision  of  the  friends  of  missions,  and  to  establish  a  deeper 
interdenominational  consciousness  in  the  whole  circle  of  Christian 
laborers  for  the  kingdom  of  our  common  Master.  A  sense  of  fraternal 
comradeship  transcending  all  ecclesiastical  lines,  and  cooperating 
heartily  for  the  expansion  of  Christ's  kingdom,  is  in  keeping  with  the 
present-day  temper  of  Christianity,  and  must  prove  a  source  of  strength, 
courage,  and  alliance  to  servants  of  the  King  throughout  the  world. 
Along  this  line  of  cohesion  in  service,  under  the  spell  of  an  untram- 
melled and  eternal  fellowship  in  Christ,  and  in  discharge  of  a  common 
trust  imposed  upon  all  followers  of  the  Crucified,  without  respect  of  per- 
sons, will  be  fostered  the  safest,  swiftest,  and  surest  unity  among  those 
who  are  called  by  His  name.  The  spirit  of  missions  rises  above  all 
national  bonds ;  it  is  broader  than  any  conceivable  patriotism ;  it  tran- 
scends in  its  scope  all  political  affinities;  it  is  above  all  church  or 
denominational  ties,  reaching  to  the  higher  plane  of  Christian  devo- 
tion to  the  welfare  of  humanity.  It  need  not  be  hampered  by  racial 
or  caste  distinctions ;  it  can  unite  a  Japanese,  a  Chinese,  a  Hindu,  and 
a  Hottentot  in  Christian  effort,  as  it  has  already  bound  together  the 
evangelical  elements  in  the  nations  of  modem  Christendom  in  a  mis- 
sionary purpose,  without  disturbing  their  civil  allegiance.     It  stands 


viii  PREFACE 

for  a  higher  citizenship  than  that  which  is  identified  with  the  State,  and 
a  nobler  historic  ambition  than  any  which  is  represented  by  national 
aspirations.  A  Christian  federation  of  the  world  in  allegiance  to  the 
supreme  Master,  and  for  the  expansion  of  His  kingdom,  is  by  no  means 
an  impossibility. 

The  author  desires  to  express  again  his  deep  indebtedness  to  the 
ofKcers  of  missionary  societies,  and  to  individual  missionaries  of  various 
chiurches  in  many  lands,  for  the  help  they  have  extended  to  him.  He 
would  have  been  glad  to  use  more  freely  the  information  they  have  so 
kindly  furnished,  but,  in  order  to  avoid  redundance  and  overlapping, 
he  had  to  make  a  somewhat  rigid  selection  and  to  place  the  material 
in  its  proper  context.  The  subject-matter  which  he  has  been  obliged 
to  study  and  classify  has  been  so  abundant  that  the  presentation  had 
of  necessity  to  be  representative  rather  than  all-inclusive.  Where  he 
has  fallen  into  error,  or  lack  of  proportion,  or  inadvertently  failed  to 
give  the  true  perspective,  a  kindly  and  charitable  judgment  is  anticipated. 

The  activities  of  the  Church  abroad  are  not  known  as  they  should 
be  to  Christians  at  home.  The  story  of  modem  missions  is  a  prose 
epic.  It  '  .'l"  how  man  puts  himself  "  alongside  of  God  in  history,  and 
works  wii'-  \  m  among  the  laws  and  forces  of  human  nature  and  the 
facts  of  human  life."  It  is  a  record  of  brave  and  unselfish  living.  It 
recounts  the  gentle  deeds,  the  humble  ministries,  the  patient  sacrifices, 
and  the  cheerful  toiis  of  earnest  men  and  devout  women  in  quest  of  the 
welfare  of  mankind.  Amid  sodden  and  stolid  conditions  of  moral 
degeneracy  and  social  decay,  it  chronicles  an  unwearied  and  often  life- 
long eflFort  to  enlighten,  rescue,  and  inspire  with  better  impulses,  races  and 
peoples  whose  future  is  already  beginning  to  brighten  with  the  glow  of 
a  larger  hope.  It  voices  a  strain  of  melody  which  is  perhaps  the 
noblest  earthly  prelude  to  that  song  of  triumph  which  the  redeemed  of 
all  nations  shall  sing.  May  the  facts  presented  in  these  pages  make 
more  vivid  and  real  to  readers  the  '"^'versal  mission  of  the  Gospel, 
and  the  profound  import  of  its  m  y  triumphs,  as  presaging  the 

most  beneficent  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  decisive  world-move- 
ment of  the  ages. 

J.  S.  D. 


I 

ft 
\ 

rl; 


GENERAL  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


VOLUMES  I,  II,  AND  III 


Lectukx  I. 
Lecturk  II. 
Lecture  III. 
Lecture  IV. 


VOLUME  I 

The  Sociological  Scope  of  Christian  Missioni. 
The  Social  Evils  of  the  Non-Christian  World. 
Ineffectual  Remedies  and  the  Causes  of  their  Failure. 
Christianity  the  Social  Hope  of  the  Nations. 


VOLUME  II 

Lecture  V.     The  Dawn  of  a  Sociological  Era  in  Missions. 

Lecture  VI.    The  Contribution  of  Christian  Missions  to  Social  Progress. 

VOLUME   III 
Lecture  VI.    The  Contribution  of  Christian  Missions  to  Social  Progress. 

(Continued) 


I. 

3. 

3- 
4- 
S- 


APPENDIX 

''   ^a«Sld^T7bles°'  ^""'^  ''^'"'°"'  throughout  the  World,  in  a  Series  of 
Evangelistic.     Statistics  of  Foreign  Missionary  Societies  and  Churches 

L™rv"s;  ,^;^'-«'«  "J,^--*--.  Medical,  and  Industrial  Ins.ruln. 
Literary.     Statistics  of  Bible  Translation  and  General  Literature. 
Medicau     Statistics  of  Hospitals,  Dispensaries,  and  Patients  Treated. 

derfr^irirs^r™"^-  ''-'''-  °'  ^-^^-'-*  -^  ^■ 

T    Na.'iiro'^    Statistics  of  Societies  and  Associations  for  General  Improvement. 
rZ^]^  '"'  Furtherance  of  National,  Social,  and  Religious 

8.    Missionary  Training  Institutions  and  Organizations  in  Christian  Lands. 
TIT     £u,        '^  °'  ^°"''^  Missionary  Societies  in  all  Lands. 
"I.   Bjbhography  of  Recent  Literature  of  Missions. 

INDICES 
iz 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


VOLUME  II 


LECTURE  V 


The  Dawn  of  a  SocioLOGiCAt  Era  in  Missions     .... 

Is  it  expedient  to  ignore  Christianity  in  any  attempt  to  civilize  barba- 
rons  races  ?  p.  3.  —Christianity  the  pioneer  of  new  national  careers,  p.  5. 
—A  proposed  classification  of  non-Christian  races,  p.  6.— Patience  and 
tact  essential  in  conducting  reform  movements  in  the  East,  p.  7.— Social 
transformations  must  come  gradually,  and  mu''  -ve  a  moral  basis,  p.  9. 
—Fundamental  factors  of  social  progress  in  ^.astern  lands,  p.  10. 
I.  The  Creation  of  a  New  Type  of  Inuividual  Character,  p.  u. 
-The  significance  of  a  new  type  of  manhood,  p.  11 .  -The  reconstruction 
of  character  the  first  task  of  missions,  p.  I2.-The  inspiration  of  the 
individual  for  the  benefit  of  the  mass  is  the  true  genesis  of  the  social 
conscience,  p.  13. -Some  illustrations  of  changed  lives  in  Africa,  p.  14. 
-Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  "  the  blackest  spot  in  darkest  Africa  "  ? 
p.  17.— Pacific  Islanders  made  over  into  the  Christ-likeness,  p.  17.— 
Some  personal  fruits  of  missions  in  India,  p.  20.— Christian  character 
sketches  from  China  and  Japan,  p.  21. 

The  Creation  of  a  New  Public  Opinion,  p.  24. -The  strategic  im- 
port of  a  Christianized  public  opinion,  p.  24.  -Public  sentiment  a  strong- 
hold of  heathenism,  p.  25. -Some  ruling  ideas  which  must  be  dethroned, 
p.  27. -Some  important  lessons  to  be  learned,  p.  30. -Public  opinion  in 
China  and  India  yielding  to  Christian  influence,  p.  31. -A  missionary 
should  be  wise  and  self-restrained  in  his  attitude  towards  social  reforms 
P-3a- 

The  Establishment  and  Promotion  ct  Education,  p.  33.— The 
fundamental  value  of  education  as  a  basis  of  social  progress,  p.  33. 
The  Literary  Contribution  of  Missions  to  the  Intellectual 
Life  of  Non-Christian  Races,  p.  35. -Mission  literature  as  a  basis 
of  social  development,  p.  35. -God's  Word  the  supreme  gift  to  E„:ern 
literature,  p.  38. 

The  Influence  of  Missions  in  Awakening  the  Philanthropic 
Spirit,  p.  39. -Mission  instruction  and  stimulus  lay  the  foundations  of 
philanthropy,  p.  39. 


vacs 
3 


II 


III, 


IV. 


sH 


TABLE  OF  COXTEXTS 


VI.  Thi  Influence  or  the  Persovai.  Example  of  Missionaries  and 
Native  Converts,  p.  43.  — Personal  example  as  •  contribution  of  mis- 
sions to  non-Christian  society,  p.  42.  —The  Christian  family :  its  power 
as  an  object-lesson,  p.  45.  —The  value  of  woman's  service  in  foreign  mis- 
sions, p.  46.  —The  heroic  element  in  missions,  and  its  social  value,  p.  48. 
—The  music  of  "the  choir  invisible"  in  missionary  history,  p.  49.— 
New  stars  in  the  African  firmament,  p.  52.- The  Florence  Nightingale 
of  Japan,  p.  53.— Some  recent  tributes  to  the  personal  character  of  mis> 
sionaries  and  the  social  value  of  their  lives,  p.  54.— Words  of  apprecia- 
tion from  unbiassed  observers,  p.  57.— Some  testimonies  to  the  value  of 
missionary  example  from  native  sources,  p.  60. 
VII.  The  Introduction  of  New  National  Aspirations  and  Higher 
Conceptions  of  Government,  p.  62.— The  influence  of  missions  in 
introducing  a  basis  for  higher  national  ideals,  p.  62.— The  late  Queen  of 
Manua,  and  her  aspirations  as  a  Christian  ruler,  p.  64. 
VIII.  The  Work  of  Missions  in  Laying  the  Foundation  of  a  New 
Social  Order  Will  Inevitably  Excite  Much  Opposition,  p.  65. 
—The  work  of  missions  in  laying  the  foundation  of  a  new  society,  p.  65. 
— Conflict  the  inevitable  price  of  victory,  p.  66. — The  moral  value  of 
missions  as  sponsors  of  true  civilization,  p.  67. 

IX.  A  Symposium  ok  Missionary  Opinion  as  to  the  Social  Value 
OF  Missions,  p.  70.— The  judgment  of  missionaries  from  Japan,  p.  70. 
—Some  expressions  of  opinion  from  China,  p.  72.— The  testimony  from 
Siam  and  Hurm.!,  p.  73. —  Representative  views  from  India,  p.  74.— 
What  is  thought  in  Turkey  and  Persia,  p.  76.— A  word  from  the  West 
Indies,  Mexico,  and  South  America,  p.  78. —What  is  said  by  missionaries 
among  the  savage  races  of  Africa  and  Madagascar,  p.  80.  —  Strong  testi- 
mony from  the  South  Seas,  p.  83. 

X.  The  Evidence  of  Native  Witnesses  is  Confirmatory  of  the 
Views  of  Missionaries,  p.  85.— The  evidence  of  native  witnesses  in 
many  notable  instances  is  quoted,  p.  85. 

XI.  Additional  Testimony  from  Prominent  Laymen  and  Govern- 
ment  Officials,  p.  88. —Valuable  testimony  from  this  source  as  to  the 
social  value  of  missions,  p.  88. 


Literature  and  Authorities  for  Lecture  V. 


95 


LECTURE  VI 
The  Contribution  of  Christian  Missions  to  Social  Progress  .        .  103 
I.  — Results  Manifest  in  the  Individual  Character  ....  104 


Temperance  Reform.  A  world-wide  movement  in  behalf  of  temperance, 
p.  105.  — Khama,  and  his  brave  crusade  against  strong  drink,  p.  106.— 
Vigorous  policy  of  the  native  African  churches,  p.  108. —The  social 
aspects  of  the  rum  trafhc  in  Africa,  p.  1 10.— Courageous  friends  of  tem- 
perance in  Madagascar,  p.  ill.— A  resolute  fight  in  the  South  Seas, 
p.  112.— Protection  of  native  races  in  New  Zealand,  New  Guinea,  and 


I 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
Formo...  p   uj.-Notable  temp«rM.ee  movement  in  J.pM  p    ,m 

Chmese  Christ.w,  no  friend,  of  opium  or  of  .trone  drink  p  ,6  A 
growing  temper.nce  sentiment  in  Indi.,  p  1,7  1.""  ^  U  \ 
the  Indian  Government  d   118     r!,     .'  ^'  "7— *"«"«  problemi  of 

An,.,.v.      J  .t     .  inuies,  p.  123.  —Organized  efforti  in  Centr.1 

America  and  Mexico,  p.  laj.- Societies  "  to  agitate  and  educL^.  »  / 
cemmg  temperance  in  South  America,  p.  U4    «""*•'"*•''»«*««     ~n- 

t.    DEUVERA.VCE   FROM   THE  OpIlM    IlAniT       Tk 

f«tor  in  the  problem  of  Vhe  F  r  E  J  p  m  Th  ""  '^f  r '  "'^'""'' 
the  missionary  body.  p.  ,,6  -The  un.L  ^■"  '  ""^  '°"*''''°"  »' 
•ociety  in  China.  /,'^'pT.|*'\""""'P'°""«'ng«'i«'>de  of  Christian 
habi,  p  ^a8      I.n*^'  "7- Philanthropic  efforts  to  save  victims  of  the 

in tdfa:  InluZ  S;Sh  Go"™°^^  "•  '^°-  -"  ^°'"'""  p-'''- 

^.;^.Ui.?;^;;;:^t:;~-;-^^ 
ui.T;.-L^Hs^rp"r  '-'^  """•  ^-"^  ^'-  -"■ 

3.  Rkstra.,^„p       G,„3^,^^      The  social  dangers  of  gambling  p    „, 

Lottery  scandals  in  South  America  p    i«      Th,  ,       •      ,     '^'  ^^~ 

Illustrations  of  changed  lives,  p.  138  S-moie,  p.  137.  - 

4.  ESTABLISIUNG    H.GHER    STANDARDS    OF    PERSONAL     P...,w         »,•     • 

Churches  promote  clean  livine   n    1,0     A      f  '      *^'"'°" 

Christians  in  Japan,  p^JlAcL'f"       f  ™  '"°"'"'"'  "^""B 

p.  .4..-Test!mLy^r.ro;ghifu,tx:r  i:^^^^^^^^^ 

crusade  for  higher  standards  of  mira^ity  in  /a  Ini^'^oc  e ty'p  'T' 
Changed  sentiments  in  India  on  the  subject  of  moral  p"r  ty  S"  uf  ~ 
The  growing  agitation  against  the  nautch,  p.  ,45  _i  Ee  1  r,.  ^^■~ 
basis  for  "  regulated  vice  "?  n   .^fi      tk  \.  u-   *^  '  Christian 

Koi  „*     •    •  *        .   ^'"    '  P-  '40-  -The  White  Cross  a  universal  svm 
bol  of  mission  teaching  and  influence,  p.  ,47  """versal  sym- 

5.  DISCREDITING  SelF-Infucted  ToRTURE  OR  MuTILAT.OV       The  Go,n  , 

•  "-""g^  of  sanity  and  peace  to  deluded  minds   p, 48         ^'^  ^°*P*' 

6.  ARRESTING  Pessimistic  and  Suicidal  Tevdenc  es     T^:     .•      •  , 

of  pessimism    n    i^n      c-i      '*'"  "'•^"^^'''CiEs.    The antisocia  trend 
them'm  pTco      if-^"'"''''.  »  P°P"'»^  remedy  for  the  ills  of  hea- 
memsm,  p.  150.  -The  pessimistic  outlook  of  the  Hindu  an,! »!..  p  ^  ,u 
p.  ISO-Suicidal  tendencies  disappear  among  nmveChH,    ^"'''''"'*' 

7.  CULTIVATING  HaBITS  OF   INDUSTRY  AND    ^RufAUT;      A  "''  •''   '="■ 

.dvocate  and  stimulate  honest  industry  pi«The?""r  "'"""* 
work  in  Africa  and  the  South  Seas  p  U.  T^e  ,  '"'f^"'"'°°  °' 
of  the  New  Hebrides   „    ,7.      Af  •      '"•7^'"'  mdustrial  civilization 

mission  training  pk'c  ^ThT  h  ^^  "'''  '''"'"''  '°  ''''  '^"'''^  '^X 
obiectI«cnl  ■'  .'SS— The  heathen  versus  the  Christian  hnt-an 

Object-lesson  m  mission  economics,  p.  ic6.-Paths  of  hnn.!/*  m 
ancient  trails  of  blood  and  plunder,  p  icr -The  cl     ,    f       ,    "  °^" 


XIII 
rAoB 


liv 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


H 


|| 


ii 


p.  i6j.-lndu«lri«l  eihibitioni  and  hwyeit  festivtls  under  mitiion 
•nipicM  in  India,  p.  163— Prize  med»li  for  mission  induitriei,  p.  164. 
—No  better  fields  in  Burma  than  those  of  the  Christian  Karens,  p.  164. 
—Tributes  from  neglected  lands  and  races  to  the  material  advantages  of 
missions,  p.  166. 

«.  Substituting  Christian  Humility  and  Proper  Self-Respict  for 
Barbaric  Pridk  and  Foolish  Conceit.  Transformation  of  old 
Asiatic  ideaU,  p.  167.— Some  invaluable  lessons  for  those  who  are  "  not 
as  other  men,"  p.  168. 

9.  Cultivation  of  the  Personal  Virtues.  Personal  character  and 
Itraight  living  the  touchstones  of  mission  success,  p.  169.— A  new  value 
to  truthfulness  and  honesty  in  Japan,  p.  169.  —Chinese  Christians  are 
worthy  of  being  trusted,  p.  170.— A  new  moral  outlook  in  India,  p.  17a. 
—The  "  Victoria  Cross  "  of  morals  in  the  Orient,  p.  173.— Savage  hered- 
ity  will  yield  to  Christian  grace,  p.  l74.-Outward  neatness  a  sign  of 
inward  cleanliness,  p.  175. 


P*M 


II.— Results  Affecting  Family  Life 


176 


I 


Christian  homes  essential  to  the  renovation  of  heathen  society,  p.  176. 
—The  magnificent  r61e  of  missions  in  purifying  and  protecting  the  family, 
p.  176. 

I.  The  Elevation  of  Woman.  The  elevation  and  education  of  woman  a 
notable  aspect  of  mission  progress,  p.  177.— Valuable  results  of  female 
education  in  India,  p.  180.— The  elevation  of  woman  a  prominent  sub- 
ject  of  discussion  in  the  new  "  Social  Movement "  in  India,  p.  181. -The 
progressive  native  press  a  spirited  advocate  of  a  higher  life  for  women, 
p.  183.  — Missions  a  decisive  factor  in  awakening  these  new  aspirations, 
p.  184.— The  growth  of  societies  in  India  for  the  advancement  and  cul- 
ture  of  womanhood,  p.  185.— The  quick  response  of  Indian  girls  to 
these  new  opportunities,  p.  185. -The  life-story  of  Krupabai,  p.  186. 
—The  growing  distinction  of  the  Christian  women  of  India,  p.  188.— 
A  higher  destiny  for  Chinese  women,  p.  189.— An  era  of  Christianized 
womanhood  has  begun  in  China,  p.  192.  — Medical  honors  for  Chinese 
women,  p.  19a.— Benefits  which  Christianity  is  bringing  to  the  women 
of  China,  p.  194.— A  new  type  of  womanhood  in  Japan,  p.  195.— The 
social  prospects  of  woman  a  live  question  in  present-day  Japan,  p.  196. 
—The  new  trend  of  thought  is  largely  due  to  mission  influence,  p.  198. 
—The  phenomenal  development  of  female  education  in  Japan,  p.  Joo. 
—A  romantic  chapter  of  brightening  prospects  for  Korean  women, 
p.  201.— The  beginning  of  a  better  day  for  women  in  Moslem  lands, 
p.  202.— Decisive  changes  in  public  sentiment  and  social  customs,  p.  203. 
—Some  gold  of  pure  womanhood  from  mines  of  African  heathenism, 
p.  205.— A  happier  and  nobler  life  for  rescued  womanhood  in  the  islands 
of  the  sea,  p.  207.— Efforts  for  female  education  in  the  West  Indies, 
Mexico,  and  South  America,  p.  208. 

3.  Restraining  Polygamy  and  Concubinage.  Grappling  with  darling  sins 
of  the  Orient,  p.  209.— Can  Christian  missions  compromise  with  polyg- 
amy?  p.  210.— The  true  modus  vivtndi  between  the  Church  and  poljrg> 


2i 

■IT 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

unoQi  convert!,  p.  3 1  a. -A  break  with  polygamy  imperative,  p.  Jij.— 
African  communities  are  taught  a  new  leiton  in  locial  morals,  p.  aij.-. 
A  moral  revolution  in  the  South  Seas,  p.  ai8.-Higher  domestic  lift 
among  the  Indians  of  America,  p.  aao.— The  Korean  version  of  the  mar- 
ital code,  p.  aao.  —An  impending  break  with  the  old  ways  in  Japan, 
p.  aai.— The  official  programme  of  Christian  home  life  in  China,  p.  aaa. 
—Peculiar  difficulties  of  the  questiou  in  India,  p.  aaa.— Is  a  decisivt 
verdict  possible?  p.  aaj.  -The  Moslem  code  of  polygamy  is  antichriitian, 
p.  aa4. 

3.  Checking  Adultery  ani>  Divorce.     Echoes  in  present-day  heathenism 

of  the  old  pagan  code  concerning  adultery  and  divorce,  p.  33$.- Scrip- 
tural views  of  marriage  an  essential  part  of  the  social  code  of  Chris- 
tianity,  p.  aaS. 

4.  Seeking  the  Abolishhent  of  Child  Marriage.    The  attitude  of  non- 

Christian  civilizations  towards  child  marriage,  p.  330.— Helpful  efforts 
on  the  part  of  a  British  official,  p.  331.— Christian  communities  repu- 
diate the  custom,  p.  333. — Reform  agitation  extending  throughout  Indian 
society,  p.  333.— Advanced  legislation  in  Mysore,  p.  334.— Missions  are 
everywhere  rebuking  the  barbarity  of  child  marriage,  p.  236. 

5.  Alleviating  the  Social  Miseries  of  Widowhood.    The  origin  of  the 

agitation  for  the  abolishment  of  tati,  p.  338.— Further  ameliorations  of 
the  condition  of  Indian  widows,  p.  339.  —The  gradual  passing  of  a  strange 
and  cruel  ostracism,  p.  340.— The  mission  crusade  supported  by  the  co- 
operation  of  native  reformers,  p.  341.- The  notable  services  of  Pundita 
Ramabai  on  behalf  of  Indian  widows,  p.  344.— A  stirring  and  romantic 
story  of  God's  providential  leadings,  p.  347. -From  the  funeral  pyre  of 
heathenism  to  the  loving  care  of  Christianity,  p.  349.- Alleviation  of  the 
widow's  lot  in  other  lands,  p.  350. 

6.  Mitigating  the  Enforced  Seclusion  of  Woman.    The  social  prob- 

lems of  the  zenana  system,  p.  351.— The  proper  attitnde  of  missions  to 
the  zenana,  p.  253.— A  providential  call  to  Christian  womanhood,  p.  353. 
—Who  began  Christian  effort  in  the  zenanas?  p.  354.— Zenana  missions 
the  outcome  of  a  Christian  missionary  impulse,  p.  356.— The  relaxation 
of  the  zenana  system  must  come  gradually,  p.  358. 

7.  Improving  the  Condition  of  Domestic  Life  and  Family  Training. 

The  differentiation  of  the  Christian  from  the  heathen  home,  p.  359 

The  missionary's  home  an  object-lesson,  p.  361.— The  old  versus  the 
new  domesticity  in  Turkey,  p.  363.  -Deplorable  features  of  native  homes 
in  many  mission  fields,  p.  364.— A  new  type  of  domestic  life  in  the 
Turkish  Empire,  p.  265. -The  making  of  better  homes  in  India,  Japan, 
and  China,  p.  267. —Transformed  huts  and  kraals  among  savage  races, 
p.  267.— The  possibilities  of  a  beautiful  home  life  in  the  Orient,  p.  269. 

8.  Rendering  Aid  and  Protection  to  Children.    The  perils  of  childhood 

in  the  realms  of  barbarism,  p.  370.  -The  crimes  of  ancient  heathenism  in 
its  treatment  of  children  still  perpetrated  in  some  parts  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
p.  271.- The  rescue  of  orphans  and  famine  waifs,  p.  273.—"  Nursery 
Missions  "  and  homes  for  slave  children,  p.  274. 

9.  Diminishing  Infanticide.     Parental  thuggism  in  India,  p.  274. -The 

efiforts  of  the  British  Government  in  India,  p.  276.— Special  efforts  of 


rAoa 


ml  TABLE  OF  COXTENTS 

mitiionwiM  in  Chin*,  p.  »77.-Ch««klag  Infant  mardtr  in  tht  South 
Seu,  p.  179.  -A  happier  d«y  for  twin*  on  the  Wett  CoMt,  p.  »79-  —The 
infant  death-roll  of  an  Eut  African  village,  p.  aSi. -Degraded  Indians 
in  North  and  Sooth  America  learn  leaioni  of  companion  from  their 
mitiionary  teachers,  p.  aSi. 


»*oa 


III.-RtSULT*  or  A   HVMANK  AND  PKILANTMIIOPIC  TINDBNC 


.  aSa 


. 


3. 


The  hnmanitarian  valne  of  mil siont,  p.  aSa. 

IlAtTENINQ  THE  SUPrKKSSION  OP  THE  SLAVB-TKADB  AND  LaBOE'TKAP- 

ric.  Livingstone  a  pioneer  in  the  modem  crusade  against  the  slave- 
trade,  p.  aSj.— The  Christian  origin  of  the  first  efforts  to  suppress  the 
traffic  in  slaves,  p.  384.  — Missions  and  the  East  Coast  slave-trade, 
p.  a86.— The  redemption  of  the  old  slave-market  at  Zansibar,  p.  387.— 
The  school  for  rescued  slave  boys  at  Muscat,  p.  389.— Mackay  and  his 
associates  teach  the  rights  of  humanity  in  Uganda,  p.  390.— Stories  of 
rescue  from  the  mission  stations  south  of  Lake  Tanganyika,  p.  a9l.— 
The  gallant  crusade  in  British  Central  Africa,  p.  391.— The  value  of 
missionary  cooperation  in  supplementing  military  victories,  p.  a93.— 
The  triumph  of  missionary  influence  in  the  Upper  Zambesi  Valley,  p.  394. 
-The  struggle  in  South  Africa,  p.  295.— The  Philafrican  Liberators' 
League  and  its  work,  p.  395.  — Military  expeditions  and  missionary  toils 
in  the  Congo  Valley,  p.  296.  -A  brighter  day  on  the  West  Coast,  p.  397. 
—A  veritable  Jubilee  in  the  Niger  Uinttrland,  p.  398.— The  redeirption 
of  the  coast  colonies,  p.  399.  —  Mow  an  appeal  to  the  British  Government 
by  an  American  missionary  in  1850  kept  its  squadron  on  the  West  Coast, 
p.  300.  -The  bearing  of  early  missionary  efforts  upon  the  slave-trade  in 
the  valley  of  the  Niger,  p.  301.  —Bishop  Crowther— the  story  of  his  rescue 
and  subsequent  services  to  the  cause  of  freedom,  p.  30a.— Missionaries 
of  all  societies  hastening  the  hour  of  full  deliverance  in  West  Africa, 
p.  ^03.— A  good  work  for  rescued  slaves  in  St.  H^^lena,  p.  304.— Efforts, 
old  and  new,  on  behalf  of  freedom  in  North  Africa,  p.  304.— Missionary 
coSperation  with  British  officials  in  Egypt  and  Turkey,  p.  305.— The 
battle  with  the  Kanaka  traffic,  p.  306.  —The  appeal  of  Dr.  Paton  to  the 
British  and  American  Governments,  p.  306. 
Aiding  in  the  Overthrow  of  Slavery.  The  inevitable  revolt  of 
Christianity  against  slavery,  p.  308.— The  memorable  campaign  of  mis- 
sions for  freedom  in  the  West  Indies,  p.  309.— The  hostility  of  the 
slave-owners  to  the  missionaries,  p.  310.— Knibb,  Burchell,  and  Phil- 
lippo— a  brave  triumvirate,  p.  311.— A  rejoicing  multitude  of  freedmen 
in  Jamaica  give  thanks  to  God  and  His  missionaries,  p.  311.— The 
heroic  struggle  of  the  early  missionaries  in  Demerara,  p.  31a.— A  mis- 
sionary's expose  of  colonial  slavery  in  British  Guiana,  p.  313.— An 
honored  name  in  the  annals  of  freedom,  p.  315.— The  romantic  story  of 
Moravian  achievements  in  the  West  Indies  and  Dutch  Guiana,  p.'3lS. 
—The  r61e  of  missions  in  ihe  overthrov/  of  slavery,  p.  316.— A  marvel- 
ous era  of  emancipation  and  missionary  opportunity,  p.  317.— Mission- 
ary care  of  liberated  slaves,  p.  319.— The  Christian  Church  and  its  his- 


s 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

tofle  .liitude  toward*  tl.very,  p.  Jjo.-Mcltrn  mitiioni  h>v«  bm  Irnt 
to  their  tru.i,  p.  jai.-The  r.pid  growth  of  mii.ioniiry  ftdli  In  for 
miniitering  to  frecdmen,  p.  jaa.  -Seitlemtnti  and  home,  for  frctd  tUvet 
a  Africa,  p.  jjj.-The  lervict  of  mitiiont  in  moulding  public  opinion 
in  Chriitendom  and  in  nativt  commnniii...  p.  314.-1  he  atiitnde  of  mii- 
lionaHM  toward!  tht  probl.m  of  .lavcry  in  Zaniibar.  p.  3J$.- The  part 
thejr  have  taken  in  Central  and  South  Africa,  p.  3»7- -Champion,  of 
freedom  in  tl  -  Upper  Zambeti  and  Congo  Valley.,  p.  318. -The  moral 
cooperation  of  mi.ilonary  agent,  in  Nigeria  and  Madaga.car,  p.  330.- 
The  re.pon»e  of  the  native  conicience  to  the  anti-ilavery  influence  of 
million.,  p.  331.-Chri.tian  convert,  become  liberatori  and  evangeli.ti 
to  tho.e  in  .lavery,  p.   3^1. -The   honorable  effort,  of  the    Roman 
Catholic  Church,  p.  333. -The  abolition  of  ilavery  in  India,  p.  n^  - 
How  mi.iionarie.  are  helping  thoie  in  .lavery  for  debt.  p.  334.-Servi. 
tude  in  Siam  and  China  aboli.hed  in  Chri.tian  communitie.,  p.  33J.- 
The  growth  of  public  .entiment  in  Korea  again.t  .lavery.  p.  337. 
}.  Abolishing  Can.nibai.ism  aisd  Inhuman  Sforts.    Pacific  I.land.  re- 
deemed  from  cannibali.m  through  minion.,  p.  338. -The  .tory  of  the 
Vatoan.  and  the  "  Scotti.h  Da.e."  p.  339. -Pao  and  hi.  victorie.  at 
Lifu.  p.  340.-"  Cannibal,  won   for  Christ"  in  the  New   Hebride.. 
p.  340.-Fre.h  triumph,  in  New  r.     ^,,.  p.  ^^_^  „„,^,  ,^„j^  ,^^ 

African  appetite.,  p.  34a. -The  |,a>.i      of  cannibali.m  in  Tierra  del 
F uego.  p.  343. 

.  Arresting  Human  Sacrifices.     What  Christianity  na.  done  to  aboli.h 
human  .acrifice.,  p.  344. -The  breaking  up  of  a  We.t  Coast  inferno, 
p.  344—"  No  more  the  knife"  in  Kuma,.i.  p.  34S._A  .Society  for  the 
Suppre...on  of  Human  Sacrifices  in  Old  Calabar,  p.  345- -The  triumph 
of  a  .olitary  burial  at  African  funeral.,  p.  346. -A  new  order  of  peace- 
offermg,  in  the  South  Sea.,  p.  347. -The  .uppresiion  of  human  .acri- 
nces  in  India,  p.  348. 
Banishing  Cruel  Ordeals.    The  foolJshne.s  of  heathen  wisdom,  p.  348. 
-The  banishment  of  the  poison  ordeal,  p.  349. -A  court  preacher', 
itraight  talk  to  African  roya'ty.  p.  351. -No  more  deadly  ordeal,  in 
MadagMcar  and  in  India,  p.  35a. 
Initiating  the  Crusade  against  Foot-Binding.     The  missionary 
verdict  concerning  the  wanton  torture  of  childhood  in  China,  p.  351  - 
The  difficulties  of  dealing  with  foot-binding,  p.  353. -A  .ocial  indict- 
mem  of  bound  feet.  p.  3S4— The  origin  of  the  custom,  p.  355. -The 
initial  movement  for  its  suppression,  p.  355. -The  organization  of  a 
more  aggressive  cru.ade.  p.  357.  -The  progress  in  Central  and  Southern 
China,  p.  358. -Bulletins  from  North  China,  p.  359. -The  story  of  re- 
form  in  the  Yang-tse  Valley,  p.  360. -The  coming  fate  of  the  "  Golden 
Lilies."  p   363. -A  quiet  appeal  to  the  piety  and  common  sense  of 
Chinese  Christians,  p.  363. -Some  help  from  unexpected  sources,  p.  364. 
-Native  Christians  awakening  to  their  duty.  p.  365. -The  approaching 
downfall  of  an  evil  custom,  p.  366. 
Promoti.no   Prison   Reforms,  and    Mitigating    Brutal   Punish- 
ments.     The  reformed  penology  Christian  in  its  origin,  p.  367. -A 
remarkable  response  to  humanitarian  principles  in  Japan,  p,  368  - 


■vH 

»*ua 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


»AG« 


8. 


10. 


II. 


Prison  reforms  in  the  Hokkaido,  p.  369- "A  Japanese  friend  of  prison- 
ers,  p.  ^70. -An  enlightened  prison  system  an  established  fact  in  Japan, 
p   '371. -The  Home  for  Discharged  Prisoners  at  Okayama,  p.  37a - 
Less  cruelty  to  prisoners  in  Korea,  p.  373. -China's  great  need  of  re- 
form  in  her  methods  of  punishment,  p.  373-  -An  enlightened  treatment  of 
criminals  in  India,  p.  374-  -The  checking  of  punitive  atrocities  in  Africa, 
p    374. —Work  among  prisoners  in  Madagascar,  p.  375. 
SECURING  Humane  Ministrations  to  the  Poor  and  Dependent. 
Christianity  quick 'ns  a  compassionate  spirit  towards  the  poor  and  de- 
pendent, p.  376.  -Teaching  lessons  of  sympathy  to  Chinese  hearts,  p.  376. 
-A  notable  work  for  the  blind  in  China,  p.  377. -Schools  and  asylums 
for  the  sightless,  p.  379- -The  work  of  missionary  surgeons  in  Chma. 
p.  380. -The  school  for  deaf-mutes  at  Chefoo,  p.  380. -Dorcas  societies 
among  the  Chinese,  p.  381.  -Charitable  movements  among  the  Japanese, 
p  381. -A  census  of  Christian  charities  in  Japan,  p.  383. -Examples  of 
benevolence  among  natives  of  India,  p.  384.-Mission  efforts  for  the 
blind  in  India,  p.  384. -Schools  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  at  Calcutta  and 
Bombay,  p.  386. -The  "  Beggars'  Church"  at  Agra,  p.  387. -Sight  for 
blind  eyes  in  Persia,  p.  388. -Benevolent  ministry  to  the  afflicted  in 
Turkey  and  Egypt,  p.  389. -The  first  asylum  for  the  insane  in  Syria, 
p.  389.  — Lessons  of  kindness  in  Africa  and  the  South  Seas,  p.  390. 
Organizing  Famine   Relief.     A  delightful  chapter  in  the  annals  of 
philanthropy,  p.  392. -The  sorrows  of  India  in  1896-97,  p.  392- -The 
humane  ministry  of  missionaries,  p.  393. -Spiritual  harvests  in  times  of 
physical  famine,  p.  395. -Liberal  contributions  from  native  Christians 
of  other  lands,   p.   395. -What  missionaries   have   done   in  previous 
Indian  famines,  p.  396. -Years  of  spiritual  plenty  following  years  of 
physical  dearth,  p.  397--"  A  truly  heavenly  phenomenon  "  commemo- 
rated in  China,   p.   397- -The  record  of  missionary  benefactions   in 
Armenia,  Persia,  and  Arabia,  p.  398. -Services  to  starving  Africans, 

p.  399. 

Introducing  Modern  Medical  Science.  The  heroic  significance  of 
medical  service  in  foreign  fields,  p.  400. -Medical  agencies  popular  with 
American  and  British  societies,  p.  402. -Rapid  growth  of  medical  mis- 
sions, p.  403.  — Early  movements  on  behalf  of  medical  agencies,  p.  404. 
-A  roll-call  of  pioneers  in  many  fields,  p.  405. -The  value  of  medial 
missionary  work,  p.  406.— The  importance  of  schools  of  medicine  in 
mission  fields,  p.  406. -A  revolution  in  native  practice,  p.  408. -Modern 
medical  literature  introduced  by  missionaries,  p.  410.  —Missionary  doctors 
bearers  of  the  best  gifts  of  modern  science,  p.  411.— What  medical 
knowledge  has  done  for  China  and  India,  p.  412. -A  warm  welcome  to 
the  missionary  physician  in  Japan  and  Korea,  p.  413.— The  victory  of 
medical  skill  over  fatalism  in  Moslem  lands,  p.  414. -The  high  standing 
of  medical  missions  in  Persia,  p.  41 5. -Supplanting  the  terrors  of  the 
native  quack  in  Africa,  p.  416.  -Other  lands  share  in  the  benefits,  p.  418. 

Conducting  Dispensaries,  Infirmaries,  and  Hospitals.  What  it 
would  involve  to  shake  hands  with  the  missionary  doctors  of  the  world, 
p.  419.— An  excursion  through  China  alone  would  be  no  easy  task, 
p.  4J0.— A  call  at  Moukden  and  Canton,  p.  420.— A  visit  to  Shanghai, 


■I 


i 
1 


f 


12. 


»3 


14. 


IS- 


TABLE  Of  CONTENTS 

Sw«tow,  Foochow,  Amoy,  and  a  thousand  miles  westward  to  Chungking, 
p.  421.— Medical  results  in  Japan,  Formosa,  and  Korea,  p.  424.  — India 
dotted  with  medical  stations,  p.  425. -Hospitals  an  ,  lispensaries  in 
Burma,  Siam,  Malaysia,  and  the  Pacific  Islands,  p.  426. -The  fame  of 
the  missionary  doctor  in  Arabia,  Persia,  and  Asia  Minor,  p.  428.— A 
fine  medical  service  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  p.  428.— The  medical  inva- 
sion of  Africa,  p.  430.— The  new  Victoria  Hospital  at  Lovedale,  p.  431. 

—A  word  about  Madagascar  and  the  Western  Hemisphere,  p.  432 

Some  beneficent  results  in  native  society,  p.  432. 
Founding  Leper  Asylums  and  Colonies.     The  Leprosy  Conference 
of  1897,  at  Berlin,  and  its  conclusions,  p.  433. -Founding  of  the  Mis- 
sion  to  Lepers  in  India  and  the  East,  p.  434- -Its  extensive  and  admi. 
rable  work,  p.  435. -Earlier  efforts  on  behalf  of  lepers,  p.  436. -An 
important  service  in  India,  p.  437. -The  largest  leper  asylum  in  British 
India,  p.  437.— Other  asylums  under  the  care  of  missionaries,  p.  438.— 
A  beautiful  charity  for  untainted  children  of  leprous  parents,  p.  439,— 
Service  on  the  heights,  or  the  story  of  Mary  Reed,  p.  439. -A  touching 
narrative  of  her  consc-ration  and  victory,  p.  44i.-GIad  tidings  of  Miss 
Reed's  returning  health,  p.  441. -Efforts  for  lepers  in  Burma,  p.  442. 
-Fine  institutions  in  China,  p.  442. -New  enterprises  in  Japan  and 
Korea,  p.  443. -The  lepers  of  Africa,  p.  444.-"  Villages  of  Hope"  in 
Madagascar,  p.  445. -The  Moravian  Asylum  at  Jerusalem,  p.  446.- 
The  lepers  of  Molokai,  p.  446. 
Establishing  Orphan  Asylums.     The  appeal  of  imperilled  childhood, 
p.  447-— The  recent  emergency  in  Asia  Minor,  p.  447. -Missionary 
protection  and  shelter  for  bereft  children,  p.  448. -Orphan  homes  in 
Syria  and  Palestine,  p.  449. -Noble  institutions  in  India,  p.  449.- 
Indian  orphans  rescued  during  the  famine  of  1896-97,  p.  450.  -Success- 
ful  training  in  various  industries,  p.  452. -The  story  of  the  Okayaraa 
Orphanage,  p.  452.-"  The  George  Muller  of  the  Orient,"  p.  453.-The 
record  of  a  bright  decade,  p.  454.  -Other  fine  institutions  under  Japanese 
direction,  p.  455.— The  efforts  of  missionary  societies  on  behalf  of  or- 
phans in  Japan,  p.  455. -A  beginning  in  Korea,  p.  456. -An  interesting 
service  for  foundlings  and  orphans  in  China,  p.  456. -Rescue  work  for 
children  in  various  fields,  p.  457. 
Promoting  Cleanliness  and  Sanitation.     Missions  an  incentive  to 
personal  cleanliness,  p.  458. -An  awakened  desire  for  sanitary  reform, 
p.  460. -Helpful  cooperation  with  the  Government  in  India,  p.  461.- 
Dr.  Murdoch  and  his  campaign  of  sanitary  instruction  in  India,  p.  462. 
-Miss  Florence  Nightingale  and  her  Health  Mission  to  Rural  India, 
p.  462.— No  trace  of  fatalism  in  Christian  communities,  p.  463.— Govern- 
ment recognition  of  the  services  of  missionaries  during  the  prevalence  of 
the  plague,  p.  463. -The  remarkable  immunity  of  native  Christians, 
p.  464. -Cleanliness  a  Christian  virtue  in  China,  p.  465. -Plague-proof 
Christians,   p.  466.  — Missionary  sanitation,  p.  466.— The  benefits  of 
sanitary  reform  among  native  races,  p.  467.  -An  expert  study  of  mysteri- 
ous  African  fevers,  p.  468. 
Mitigating  the  Brutalities  of  War.    The  still,  small  voice  of  Chris- 
tian  compassion,  p.  468. -The  new  humanitarianism  in  Japan,  p.  469. 


xlx 

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TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


MOB 


-How  far  is  this  humane  spirit  inspired  by  missions?  p.  470. -Let  the 
Japanese  themselves  decide  the  question,  p.  471— The  best  "  open-door 
policy  "  for  the  Far  East,  p.  472-An  "  Army  Comfort  Society  "  m  the 
land  ot  the  "  Mimizuka,"  p.  473.-Pioneers  of  the  Red  Cross  in  Chma. 
^y^  _Tl,e  services  of  early  missionaries  in  restraining  massacre, 

p,  474. 
16.  Instilling  a  Peaceable  and  Law-abiding  Spirit.  Peaceable  com- 
munities are  the  outcome  of  missions,  p.  475- -The  pc-htical  value  of 
missions  as  an  aid  to  tranquillity,  p.  475. -Warriors  and  marauders  won 
over  to  peaceful  pursuits,  p.  476. -Native  Christians  strive  to  promote 
peace,  p.  478. -The  delights  of  peaceable  intercourse  vtrsm  the  policy 
of  mutual  destruction,  p.  478. -Official  testimony  from  the  Governor  of 
New  Guinea,  p.  479.  -The  taming  of  Indian  warriors,  p.  480. -A  peace- 
ful Indian  paradise,  p.  482. -Quiet  and  orderly  living  characteristic  of 
Oriental  Christians,  p.  482. -The  passing  of  blood-feuds  in  native 
Christian  communities,  p.  484. -A  solid  basis  for  missionary  optimism, 
p.  485. 


(A  full  table  of  contents  of  Lecture  VI.  will  be  found  on  page  too  of  this  volume.  The  four  remain- 
ing divisions,  dealing  with  results  pertaining  to  the  higher  life  of  society,  and  to  the  national,  commer- 
cial.  and  religious  progress  of  foreign  peoples,  will  be  treated  m  Volume  HI.) 


m 


-a 

1 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


•si 


-3 


(The  .u  hor  desue,  to  icknowledge  wlh  hearty  dunks  the  kindness  of  many  friends  in  niacin,  at 
h.,  d»po.d  nurne.  .  photopaph.  from  which  cuts  have  been  nude  illus,  Jng  vario^  S  0 
m™oB«y  work.  «peaally  where  it  has  a  nunifes.  influence  upon  social  progress  In  .ome!„^c« 
duplicate  plates  of  e^sfng  cuu  have  been  provided,  or  permission  has  been  ^n  ,0  copyTuust^tio" 
alre^ly  published  m  books  and  periodicals.  He  is  under  obligations  to  .he  Sec«tari«  of  the Thu'ch 
M«.ona„  Society  especially  the  Rev.  George  Fumess  Smith.  Mr.  Eugene  Stock  eZtTtZ 
GUa^.  and  Herbert  Unkeater.  M.D..  Editor  of  Mrrcy  and  Truit;u,  the  Rev.  R   WaLuaw 

J^T"'  .^r^"„°~'^  *•  ^'""'  ""*  '^^  ^"-  ^'««  Cousins,  of  the  London  MU^^^ 
Society :«,  Alfred  Henry  Bayne,,  Esq..  Secretary  of  the  BaptUt  Missionary  SocietyTto Te  R^^ 
WUlumDal.Editorofr*,^<«.*/,^„„,,,.,/,^^,„,,^^^ 

w  ■ .         r  v.^'  "^  °^  *'  ^''•y  '"'  '^^  P^P^'K^'tion  of  .he  Gospei ;  to  Mf  C  J   Viner 

Mr.  J.  R.  Gilhes.  of  the  China  InUnd  Mission;  to  the  Rev.  A  R   Cavalier  S«-J,^f  !k    7 
Bible,  and  Medical  Misrion.  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Andrews,  of  A.  «me  s^     ^^e  R^^  r  "^^  ^^'"^ 
Secreury  of  the  Church  of  England  Zenana  MUsi;nanr  ^et^,  ^'trML  Le  H    J°""* 

^z:'-  Ll-cLTda^;^R-.  ^"t^i:^::!;^^ 

has  kindly  forwarded  «,meiHust.«ion.wh^a^JLr*eT^e„^^^^^^^  """''"'*"  "'"'»'" 

Mission,  of  the  Reformed  Chu^  in  America    AeRr^  E  W       nT'."!""  ^°"^  "'  ^°~«" 
sionary  Society  of  the  ProtesUnt  ^Tpal^t fc  •"'^'rj'"^'' *^^    ff-'^'T «"  '»>«  »«- 

.rM^AbtrB^hiifZhei^otl-S 

of  the  Woman%'unr'ML:io:  J-^^.y'^^rPa"^^^^^^^^  wX^Tw"'"  ?'  ?'  ^''"""»' 
rionar.  Society  of  die  MethodUrkpiscopL  Chureh  M«  B  Tr     '      '*'\^°"'""  ^°"'«"  ""• 

ute^R^wrr^r^irr  ^kTno^'bbir'- "--  «'-'•  «'•  -°'-« ^-  «-• 

Du^Christi..M.D..ofMo„w:;Lchu.^";;o^^;[:l'5-'H^^^^^ 

the  Rev.  C.  A.  KiUie.  of  Ichowfii  .he  R~  F  7  u     -r^r  '**"  ^  •  "«wland.  of  Pekmg  University, 

U.V..  of  Pakhoi.  5L;  iTe  Rev  A  W^L.^  //m  TtT*"^  '""^  ''""'"'>'  '»'*  ^  °-  ««'«'". 
H  v-nma.  ine  K*».  A.  Woodward,  of  Maadaby,  Burma;  Professor  S.  Satthiaaadhan. 

xxi 


^ 


'I 


i 


„y  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

M.A..  LL.M.,  of  M«ta..  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Tncy.  I>  ^  • «' P«~k>'';'?;'5'  '^'T;/'?!'  ^"  f^' 
MD  of  Madu™.  .h.  Rev.  Jwob  Chimberiain.  M.D..  D.D..  of  M^UnapJlt.  the  Rrr.  S.  S. 
D^'  M  D  ^JriUy,  the  Rev.  G.  H.  We..cot.,  of  C.*npo».  the  Rev.  J.  P«on.  •»<»  *•  R«»; 
S,^«:.^  J.S-:  U..  Rev.  J.  H.  Ba.c«.n.  of  «he  Punjab.  D.  Hennr  M«t^  CUA  «ji 
A.  R.  Bn,*;.  a^d  Mi,.  S.  S.  Hewlett,  of  Amri,«r.  M.»  Grace  E  *'""•  "^  »^<''i-P"'  f^^  ^• 
David,  of  Ceylon,  and  the  Pund.u  Ramabai.  of  Poona.  India:  the  »«'•  J*™"  S*«'  f^^Gf' 
of  M.d.ga.«r:  the  Rev.  George  E.  Po,..  M.D..  Franklin  T.  Moore,  M.D.,  Mr.  J^  W.  NKdy. 
M«yK*,«n  Ediy,  M.D..  and  MiM  Alice  S.  Barber,  of  Beirut.  Rev.  F.  E.  Hoskm..  of  Zahleh,  «.d 
r^Snnon.  M.D.,  o^Danu^u..  Syria;  the  Rev.  Robert  Chamber..  D.D.  of  Baxd«^,  A«. 
mL  »d  the  kev.  Hubert  W.  Brown,  of  Mexico  City.  Mexico.  Further  acknowledgmenu  wUl 
be  made  in  Volume  III.) 


Translators  of  the  Bible  into  Jtpanese . 


Frontispitce 
Facing  fage 
ta 


Some  Representative  Native  Christians 

Theological  Graduates,  1897,  Bareilly,  India 

A  Page  of  Chinese  Christians • 

Japanese  Christian.s  who  have  Kept  the  Faith    

Indian  versus  Christian  Ideals •  ■  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  ''•  • '    ■■• 

Committee  for  Translating  the  Bible  into  Hindustani.  Delhi,  India.  1898 

Translating  and  Teaching  God's  Word  in  India. 

American  Mission  Hospital,  Madura,  South  India 

Glimpses  of  the  New  Madura  Hospital ♦^ 

Christian  Womanhood  in  Mission  Fields * 

A  Group  of  Kaisers werth  Deaconesses.  Beirut,  Syria 5 

A  Group  of  Missionaries  in  Samoa 

Bithynia  High  School.  Bardezag,  Turkey  in  Asia 7^ 

Cathedral  Pictures  from  Uganda 

Lessons  in  Pictures  from  Greenland 

The  First  Christian  Endeavor  Convention  in  Mexico » 

A  Representative  Missionary  Physician  in  China 9 

Notable  Groups  of  African  and  Indian  Christians 

In  Training  for  Christian  Life  in  South  Africa. . . 

Temperance  and  Athletics  in  Asia  Minor 

Disciples  of  Christian  Faith  and  Temperate  Living  in  the  West  Indies 123 

The  Opium  Question— Arguments 

The  Light  of  Hope  in  Some  Sad  Faces 

Christian  Education  in  Japan 

Christian  Optimism  in  Chinese  Faces 

Converts  to  the  Gospel  of  Industry  in  Africa 

The  Fruits  of  Christian  Instruction  in  Madagascar 

Educational  Work  at  Bombay.  India |~ 

Christian  Education  the  Hope  of  India 

Educational  Possibilities  for  Chinese  W  omen 9 

Japanese  Girlhood  under  Mission  Culture 9" 

New  Ideak  for  Japanese  Womanhood  ... 

Missionaries  for  Uganda. •        • 

The  Training  of  Womanhood  in  Africa  . . 

Hospitals  for  Women  in  India 

Moral  Transformations  in  South  Africa.. 

A  Christian  Refuge  for  Widows  in  India. 


33 

34 
28 

36 
38 
42 

44 


1 10 
116 


of  the  Camera.  Pro  and  Con 126 

130 
140 

150 
160 

174 
180 


200 
206 
210 
234 
229 
a44 


# 


Z/Sr  O/"  ILLUSTRATIONS  xxiii 

The  Fundita  Ramabai  and  Her  Widows'  Home  249 

Woman's  Ministry  to  Woman  in  India  and  China 254 

Christian  Families  in  China  and  Syria 260 

The  Making  of  Better  Homes  in  Syria 266 

A  Kindergarten  Group  at  Smyrna. , 272 

The  Berlin  Foundling  Home,  Hong  Kong 277 

The  Christian  Redemption  of  an  African  Slave-Market 288 

Happy  Scenes  along  the  Old  Slave-Routes 292 

A  Home  for  Slaves  on  the  Gold  Coast 303 

Missionary  Heroes  in  the  Annals  of  Freedom 311 

From  the  Slave-Dhow  to  Freedom  in  Christ 322 

Transformations  among  the  Maoris  and  Melanesians 341 

Notable  Christian  Scenes  in  Peking    355 

Chinese  Girlhood  with  Smiling  Faces  and  Unbound  Feet 362 

Work  among  Discharged  Prisoners  in  Japan 372 

Good  Angels  of  Child  Life  in  India 385 

Snap  Shots  at  the  Famine  of  1897  in  India 392 

The  Pathos  and  Joy  of  a  Rescue  from  Famine 396 

The  After  Rewards  of  a  Famine  Rescue 398 

Hospital  and  Medical  Staff,  Chaochowfu 401 

New  Hospitals  in  China  and  Syria 404 

Faculty  and  Students  of  the  Medical  School,  Beirut 406 

The  Medical  Staff,  Amritsar,  India 410 

Scenes  at  the  Amritsar  Hospital 414 

The  Margaret  Williamson  Hospital,  Shanghai 418 

The  S.  Wells  Williams  Pavilion  of  Margaret  Williamson  Hospital,  Shanghai  422 

The  Hope  Hospital,  Amoy,  China 424 

The  Johanniter  Hospital,  Beirut,  Syria 426 

Scenes  at  the  Johanniter  Hospital,  Beirut,  Syria 428 

Medical  Work  of  the  Rhenish  Mission  in  South  China 431 

Typical  Cases  of  Leprosy  in  India 434 

The  Moravian  Home  for  Lepers,  Jerusalem 436 

Service  on  the  Heights,  Chandag,  India 440 

The  Home  for  Lepers,  Mandalay,  Burma 442 

Scenes  at  the  Leper  Asylum,  Pakhoi,  China 444 

Orphan  Groups  at  Harpoot,  Turkey 448 

Zoar  Orphanage  and  its  Pup-Is,  Beirut,  Syria 452 

A  Notable  Philanthropic  Enterprise  in  Japan 455 

Woman's  Medical  Work  in  Syria 45^ 

Westminster  Hospital  and  a  Group  of  Patients 466 

Hospital  ',.enes  at  Julfa,  Persia 471 

Medical  Missions  in  Manchuria, 475 


ABBREVIATIONS  OF  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES 
USED  IN  VOLUME  H 


I 


)■■ 


A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 

A.  B.  M.  U. 
A.  B.  S. 
A.  F.  B.  F.    I. 
Ba.  M.  S. 
C.  E.  Z.  M.  S. 
C.  1.  M. 
C.  M.  D. 
C.  M.  M.  S. 
C.  M.  S. 
C.  P.  M. 
C.  S.  M. 
C.  W.  B.  M. 
E.  B.  M.  S. 
E.  M.  M.  S. 

E.  P.  C.  M. 

F.  C.  M.  S. 
F.  C.  S. 

F.  F.  M.  A. 

G.  M.  S. 
Ind. 

K.  C.  I.  H.  M. 
L.  M.  S. 
Luth.  G.  S. 
M.  E.  M.  S. 
M.  E.  S. 
M.  L. 
M.  M. 
M.  M.  S. 
P,  B.  F.  M.  N. 
P.  B.  F.  M.  S. 
P.  C.  I.  M.  S. 
P.  E.  M.  S. 


American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 

American  Bible  Society. 

American  Friends'  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

Basel  Missionary  Society. 

Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary  Society. 

China  Inland  Mission. 

Cambridge  Mission  to  Delhi. 

Canadian  Methodist  Missionary  Society. 

Church  Missionary  Society.     (Eng.) 

Canadian  Presbyterian  Mission. 

Church  of  Scotland  Mission. 

Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  [Disciples].     (U.  S.  A.) 

English  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

Edinburgh  Medical  Missionary  Society.     (Scot.) 

English  Presbyterian  Church  Mission. 

Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  [Disciples].     (U.  S.  A.) 

Free  Church  of  Scotland. 

Friends'  Foreign  Missionary  Association.     (Eng.) 
Gossner  Missionary  Society. 

Independent. 

Kurkn  and  Central  Indian  Hill  Mission.     (Eng.) 

London  Missionary  Society. 

Lutheran  General  Synod.     (U.  S.  A.) 

Methodist  Episcopal  Missionary  Society.     (U.  S.  A.) 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.     (U.  S.  A.) 

Mission  to  Lepers. 

Melanesian  Mission. 

Moravian  Missionary  Society. 

Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  North.     (U. 

Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  South.     (U. 

Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland  Missionary  Society. 

Protestant  Episcopal  Missionary  Society.     (U.  S.  A.) 
xxiv 


S.  A.) 
a.  A.) 


ABBREVIATIONS  OF  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES 


zxv 


R«f.  C.  A. 
R.  M.  M. 
R.  M.S. 

S.  D.  B. 
S.  E.  N.  S. 
S.  F.  E.  E. 
S.  P.  G. 
U.  B.  C. 
U.  M.  C.  A. 
U.  M.  F.  M.  S. 
U.  P.  C.  N.  A. 

U.  P.  C.  S.  M. 
W.  C.  M.  M.  S. 
W.  C.  T.  U. 
\V.  M.  S. 
W.  U.  M.  S. 
Z.  B.  M.  M. 


Reformed  Chnrch  in  America. 

Ruaghat  Medical  Miition.     (India.) 

Rhenish  Missionary  Society. 

Seventh-Day  Baptist  Missionary  Society.     (U.  S.  A.) 

Swedish  Evangelical  National  Society. 

Society  for  Promoting  Female  Education  in  the  East.     (Eng.) 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.     (Eng.) 

United  Brethren  in  Christ.     (U.  S.  A.) 

Universities'  Mission  to  Central  Af'ica.     (Eng.) 

United  Methodist  Free  Churches  Missionary  Society.     (Eng.) 

United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America,  Board  of  Foreign 

Missions. 
United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  Foreign  Mission  Board. 
Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  Foreign  Missionary  Society.    (Eng. ) 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 
Wesleyan  Missionary  Society.     (Eng.) 
Woman's  Union  Missionary  Society.     (U.  S.  A.) 
Zenana,  Bible,  and  Medical  Mission.     (Eng.) 


•^ 


rm 


SYNOPSIS  OF  LECTURE  V 


^ 


The  procctt  of  social  change  in  the  case  of  degraded  races  mast  necessarily  ad- 
vance slowly.  Christianity  must  begin  by  making  its  own  new  environment.  Long 
and  patient  preliminary  work  is  required.  In  the  present  lecture  it  will  be  expedient 
to  tijie  a  survey  of  the  foundations  which  have  been  laid  for  the  inauguration  of  a 
new  era  of  development  in  backward  nations.  Turning,  then,  to  the  foundations 
rather  than  to  the  superstructure,  and  considering  preliminary  transformations  rather 
than  present  activities  (which  will  form  the  subject  of  the  subsequent  lecture),  we 
shall  note  some  achievements  of  missions  which  are  of  fundamental  value,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  final  renovation  of  non-Christian  society  after  the  ideals  of  Christianity. 

I.  The  creation  of  a  new  type  of  individual  character.  A  degenerate  individuality 
is  the  first  point  of  contact  between  Christian  missions  and  heathenism,  and  the 
reconstruction  of  character  is  the  earliest  task  of  the  missionary.  Some  illustrations 
of  changed  lives  in  various  mission  fields  are  cited. 

I I .  The  creation  of  a  new  public  opinion.  A  perverted  social  conscience  is  as  much 
a  reality  in  non-Christian  lands  as  a  perverted  individual  conscience,  and  ir.  the  form 
of  public  opinion  it  is  a  factor  of  amazing  force  and  stabiliiy.  The  power  of  mis- 
sions to  dethrone  many  of  the  ruling  ideas  in  heathen  society  is  vindicated  by 
examples. 

III.  The  establishment  and  promotion  of  education.  The  present  educational 
plant  of  foreign  missions  throughout  the  world  is  a  marvelous  achievement,  con- 
sidered not  only  in  itself,  but  as  representing  'iterally  a  tree  gift  of  Christianity  to 
the  nations.     Its  import  as  a  stimulus  to  social  progress  is  made  evident. 

IV.  The  literary  co  ribution  of  missions  to  the  intellectual  life  of  non-Christian 
races  is  a  fundamental  factor  of  social  progress.  The  scope  of  the  literary  activities 
of  missionaries  is  dwelt  upon,  and  the  value  of  their  contributions  illustrated. 

V.  The  influence  of  missions  in  awakening  the  philanthropic  spirit.  The  Chris- 
tian religion  is  still  assuming  the  r61e  of  the  Good  Samaritan  among  the  nations. 

VI.  The  influence  of  the  personal  example  of  missionaries  and  native  converts. 
Illustrations  from  Chris  ian  history,  and  from  mission  fields  at  the  present  day, 
sufficiently  justify  the  high  estimate  placed  upon  the  power  of  the  Christian  life  as 
exemplified  in  the  presence  of  the  heathen  world. 

Vli.  The  introduction  of  new  national  aspirations  and  higher  conceptions  of 
government.  Missions  have  introduced  anew  ideal  of  patriotism,  and  work  steadily 
in  the  direction  of  purer  laws  and  larger  freedom. 

VIII.  The  work  of  missions  in  laying  the  foundation  of  a  new  social  order  will 
inevitably  excite  much  opposition.  The  Reformation  was  a  period  of  conflicts;  the 
Huguenots  and  Puritans  were  soldiers  of  conscience ;  the  early  struggles  of  Chris- 
tianity with  pagan  Rome  were  sharp  and  terrible ;  the  victories  of  religious  history 
must  be  repeated  in  the  experience  of  Christian  missions.  The  moral  value  of  mis- 
sions  as  sponsors  of  true  civilization  is  noted. 

IX.  A  symposium  of  missionary  opinion  as  to  the  social  value  of  missions, 
judgment  of  missionaries  in  all  parts  of  the  world  is  quoted. 

X.  The  evidence  of  native  witnesses  is  confirmatory  of  the  views  of  missionaries, 
and  is  of  value,  especially  where  the  source  is  non-Christian. 

XL  Additional  testimony  from  prominent  laymen  and  government  officials  as 
to  the  social  value  of  missions  is  brought  forward. 


The 


■M 


LECTURE  V 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOaOLOGICAL  ERA  IN 

MISSIONS 


Hi 

M 


'*r 


I 

f! 


"  It  !i  idle  to  talk  of  Christ  u  •  locial  reformer,  if  by  that  is  meant  that  His 
firit  concern  was  to  improve  the  organization  of  society,  or  to  provide  the  world 
with  better  laws.  These  were  among  His  objects,  but  His  first  was  to  provide  the 
world  with  better  men.  The  one  need  of  every  cause  and  every  community  still  it 
for  better  men.  .  .  .  External  reforms— education,  civilization,  public  schemes, 
and  public  charities— have  each  their  part  to  play.  Any  experiment  that  can  benefit 
by  one  hairbreadth  any  single  human  life  is  a  thousand  times  worth  trying.  There 
is  no  effort  in  any  single  one  of  these  directions  but  must,  as  Christianity  advances, 
be  pressed  by  Christian  men  to  ever  further  and  fuller  issues.  But  those  whose 
hands  have  tried  the  most,  and  whose  eyes  have  seen  the  furthest,  have  come  back 
to  regard  first  the  deeper  evangel  of  individual  lives,  and  the  philanthropy  of  quiet 
ways,  and  the  slow  work  of  leavening  men  one  by  one  with  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

"  There  is  an  almost  awful  freedom  about  Christ's  religion.  '  I  do  not  call  you 
servants,'  He  said ;  '  for  the  servant  knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth :  I  have  called 
you  friends.'  As  Christ's  friends.  His  followers  are  supposed  to  know  what  He 
wants  done,  and  for  the  same  reason  they  will  try  to  do  it— this  is  the  whole  work- 
ing basis  of  Christianity.  Surely,  next  to  its  love  for  the  chief  of  sinners  the  most 
touching  thing  about  the  religion  of  Christ  is  its  amazing  trust  in  the  least  of  saints. 
Here  is  the  mightiest  enterprise  ever  launched  upon  this  earth,  mightier  even  than 
its  creation,  for  it  is  its  re-creation,  and  the  carrying  of  it  out  is  left,  so  to  speak,  to 
haphazard— to  individual  loyalty,  to  free  enthusiasms,  to  uncoerced  activities,  to  an 
uncompelled  respok.^e  to  the  pressures  of  God's  Spirit." 

Professor  Henry  Drummond,  LL.D. 


"  Christianity  reverses,  in  this  respect,  the  ancient  tendency,  and  '  instead  of 
working  downward  from  the  State  to  the  person,  it  works  upward  and  outward  from 
the  person  to  the  State.'  It  first  plants  itself  in  the  individual  soul,  and  then  works 
from  the  centre  to  the  circumference.  .  .  .  The  Christian  spirit  aims  at  making  men 
saints  first,  and  then  patriots.  The  State  cannot  do  this :  '  there  is  no  political  al- 
chemy,' as  Herbert  Spencer  has  said,  '  by  which  you  can  get  golden  conduct  out  of 
leaden  instincts.'  But  the  alchemy  of  Christ's  religion  regenerates  individuals,  and 
through  them  society  at  large.  It  makes  the  nidn  truthful,  honest,  chaste,  coura- 
geous, virtuous ;  and  then  sends  him  into  the  arena  of  public  life,  that  he  may  exert 
an  influence  in  all  human  relationships,  and  render  a  sanctified  service  to  the  State." 

Rev.  T.  E.  Slater. 


LECTURE  V 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOaOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS 

In  previous  lectures  we  have  considered  tlie  larger  scope  of  missions, 
studied  the  mo-e  prominent  social  evils  of  the  non-Christian  world' 
passed  in  review  some  supposed  agencies  of  moral  reform,  which,  how-' 
ever,  for  sufficient  reasons,  we  have  pronounced  incapable  in  themselves 
of  producing  satisfactory  results,  and,  furthermore,  have  carefully 
examined  the  adaptation  of  Christianity  to  uplift  society  and  introduce 
the  higher  forces  of  permanent  social  regeneration  and  progress.  We 
turn  now  to  a  survey  of  results,  and  inquire  what  proof  there  is  that 
the  positions  we  have  taken  are  sustained  by  the  evidence  of  practical 
achievement.  This,  in  general,  will  be  the  theme  of  the  present  and  of 
the  concluding  lecture. 

The  fact  has  been  perhaps  sufficiently  clear  to  us  that  non-Christian 
society,  left  to  its  own  tendencies,  uniformly  and  persistently  goes  the 
way  of  moral  deterioration  and  sinks  into  deca- 
dence, with  no  hope  of  self-reformation.    The  fact  VJ  "P""«"*  »«  '««>"• 
.*„  _     1  -J  ...  •••v-i    chrUti«nity  la  any  at. 

IS  no  less  evident,  as  the  history  of  mankind  proves,    t«n>Pt  to  civi..,,  tar- 
that  Christianity,  since  its  founding,  has  been  in-         >>•">"•  "cm? 
variably  the  motive  force  in  all  n    ,le  and  worthy  moral  development, 
and  that  this  has  resulted  in  proportion  to  the  influence  which  the  re- 
ligion of  Christ  has  obtained  in  national  or  social  history.     The  truth 
of   this   statement  was  not  only  illustrated  but  confirmed  at  the 
meeting  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science 
in  1895.     A  paper  was  read  upon  Civilization -not  in  the  interest  of 
missions  or  even  of  Christianity-by  Professor  Flinders  Petrie,  in  which 
the  author  took  the  position  that  it  was  of  doubtful  expediency,  and 
even  a  demonstrated  disadvantage,  to  press  Western  civilization  upon 
barbarous  or  savage  communities,  since  their  incapacity  to  assume  it 

3 


'^-'* 


I. 


4  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

was  so  manifest  that  it  proved  a  demoralizing  force  and  an  overwhelm- 
ing burden.  His  contention  was  that  a  low  civilization  could  not, 
without  injury  to  native  races,  be  rapidly  superseded  by  a  higher  one, 
which  was  itself  the  result  of  a  long  process  of  development  among 
advanced  races.'  We  have  in  this  scatement  a  plain,  though  perhaps 
unintentional,  argument  for  the  moral  forces  of  Christianity  as  the  only 
adequate  spiritual,  intellectual,  and  social  preparation  for  a  higher  cul- 
ture among  savage  races,  since  it  is  a  matter  of  historical  demonstration 
that  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  regeneration  which  Christianity  effects 
will  prepare  any  nation  on  earth  for  social  changes  and  transformations 
in  harmony  with  the  noblest  type  of  civilization.  Christianity  so  ex- 
tends the  vision,  so  changes  the  focus,  so  develops  latent  capacities,  lo 
lifts  the  whole  moral  nature  into  harmony  with  the  finer  temper  and 
trend  of  civilization,  that  even  the  lowest  races  are  able  to  assimilate 
the  best  results  of  progress  and  reproduce  them  in  actual  experience. 
Without  the  quickening  and  fortifying  vitality  of  those  moral  principles 
which  Christianity  imparts,  civilization  is  nothing  more  than  the 
veneering  of  primitive  and  unchanged  barbarism.-  The  old  rottenness 
remains  beneath  the  surface,  the  old  savagery  flows  in  the  blood  and 
burns  in  the  untamed  nature.  The  scandals  of  Christendom  are,  alasl 
only  too  clear  indications  of  this.  Duelling  is  not  unknown  even  in  the 
high  places  of  modern  civilization ;  in  the  United  States  brutal  lynchings 

>  The  problem  here  referred  to  bv  Professor  Petrie  was  considered  recently  in  • 
course  of  lectures  upon  Missions  by  M.  Narbel,  delivered  at  the  University  of  L..J- 
sanne.     M.  Narbel  remarked  : 

"  There  is  no  disguising  the  fact  that  when  Christianity  and  civilization  are  intro- 
duced togtihcr  to  inferior  races  of  mankind,  new  wants  are  created,  and  a  new  world 
full  of  temptations  antl  dangers  is  opened  up  before  them.  Nor  can  we  overlook 
the  fact  that  certain  races  seem  to  disappear  when  brought  in  contact  with  Christiaa 
civilization.  The  diminished  numb»!rs  of  North  American  Indians,  and  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Polynesia  and  Australasia,  are  proofs  of  the  fact.  No  doubt  missions, 
as  such,  are  not  responsible  for  such  a  sad  result ;  those  to  blame  are  for  the  roost 
part  Europeans  devoid  of  conscientious  scruples,  who  are  generally  sworn  foes  and 
calumniators  of  missionaries,  and  who  supply  these  people  with  firearms  and  spiritu- 
ous liciuors.  That  this  is  so  may  be  seen  in  the  case  of  Greenland,  where  the 
Danish  (jovcrnment  has  absolutely  prohibited  the  introduction  of  spirits,  and  whfre 
in  consequence  the  population  has  not  diminished  in  number.  Since,  however,  it  is 
not  possible  to  prevent  the  spread  of  civilization,  either  side  by  side  with  missions  or 
as  following  in  their  course,  this  difficult  moral  and  social  problem  remains  for  solu- 
tion,  and  in  dealing  with  it  not  only  ardent  faith  is  needed,  but  also  all  the  help  that 
can  be  drawn  from  political  and  economical  science." 

»  Cf.  Cust,  "  Linguistic  and  Oriental  Essays"  (Second  Series,  1887),  for  some 
valuable  remarks  as  to  the  effect  of  unchristian  eivUiiation  on  the  lower  races  of 
mankind  (pp.  533-53^)- 


I. 


1 


THR  DAW.W  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL   ERA   I.V  M/SS/OATS        5 

•II  too  frequently  disgrace  and  brand  the  moral  nature  of  communities 
which  one  would  naturally  suppoie  quite  incapable  of  nuch  outburst! 
of  Mvagery;  lack  of  »elf-re»tiaint,  leading  to  violence,  Jnju»tice,  and 
crime,  is  far  too  prevalent  in  all  civilized  n  uions;  iniquities,  cruelties, 
anu  fiendish  attempts  at  wholesale  destruction  of  life  and  property  are 
m  too  many  instances  the  signs  of  a  still  unconquered  and,  without 
Christianity,  unconquerable  barbarism. 

The  process  of  social  renewal  in  the  case  of  degenerate  races  must, 
however,  necessarily  advance  slowly,  and  it  is  no  discouragement  that 
the  progress  is  even  painfully  slow,  and  sometimes 
almost  imperceptible,  except  as  we  are  able  to  chri.ti.nit 
compare  one  generation  with  another.     The  fact  of  n.wMtiooV^,'Vr" 
that  we  cannot  at  once  begin  to  exclaim,  "  Lo, 
here!"  and  "Lo,  there!"  is  no  sign  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not 
coming.     Our  Lord  announced  as  one  of  the  characteristic  features  of 
Its  advent  that  it  was  "not  with  observation."'     Christianity  must 
begin  by  making  its  own  new  environment.     It  enters  the  precincts  of 
heathenism  alone,  with  no  basis  to  work  upon,  and,  entering,  is  at  once 
surroiinded  by  an  unwelcome  spirit  and  a  ho.stile,  and  in  many  respects 
morally  objectionable,  social  system.     In  the  vast  and  tangled  forest  of 
heathenism,  like  a  pioneer  settler,  it  must  first  make  for  itself  a  clearing  ■ 
It  must  provide  itself  with  a  breathing-place,  where  it  can  have  light  ami 
air     It  must  build  its  o  vn  habitation  to  dwell  in,  which,  however  rough 
and  humble,   is  sure  to   become  a  home  of  love  and  a  nursery  of 
fnict.fy.ng  moral  principle.     It  is  ...gnificant  that  just  as  m.ssions  are 
get  ing  a  gnp  upon  Eastern  nations  there  seems  to  open  to  so  many 
lln       ^"*"'^'  P*^°P'«  a  vista  of  national  progress  and  expansion, 
plr  ^  T       ?T'  ^"^^^^'^'"■^'  Polynesia,  Siam,  Burma,  India, 
Persia,  Turkey,  and  the  African  Continent  with  its  tumult  of  political 

>  "  One  reason  why  such  result,  as  you  desire  information  upon  do  not  appear 

.    the7a7e  m«.e'r     T  ""'  ''"  •'"•""°'"''  ""^  -'^'^'>  '««'  -  --     ' 

n  hi  sVh    hTa     "  tTTr  r ''""""•  ""*  ""•-"-•  "">-  '»•«  -<J'vidual 
emiues,  which  cannot  be  tabulated  m  any  statistical  form;  and,  moreover  thev  are 

« i:srr  iriia  Tf^  "'T  '''r  ^  -  ^"°"  -'° "-  -p- '"«  cI'L'::; 

movements  there  are  .liff       '.   '''"  °'  ''"  "'  '"'"'^  ''"'■     ^K"'"'  '"  ^o^-'^P-l 
B.  C.A.  ■  ^  ^•^'  Kondowj,  Livingstonia, 


6 


CHKJS77A.\'  MISSJOXS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


and  national  transformation,  are  all  astir  with  rapid  movement  in 
the  path  of  destiny.  Our  present  age  is  an  era  of  epochs.  Nations 
ripen  for  change  with  amazing  rapidity.  It  is  this,  in  connection  with 
the  moral  power  of  Christianity,  which  gives  to  Christian  missions  at 
the  close  of  our  century  their  immense  significance. 

As  we  contemplated  the  evils  of  the  non-Christian  world,  we  were 

conscious,  no  doubt,  of  varying  degrees  of  degradation  and  heinous- 

ness  in  the  phases  of  its  social  disorder.     An  ex- 

A  propoicd  ciasiifica-    ceptional  depth  of  depravity  and  cruelty  was  mani- 

tion  of  non-chri.tUi.     ^^^^  .^  ^^^.^^j^  ^j  ^^^^ .  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  removed 

from  the  standards  of  civilization  and  humanitarian 
refinement.     A  classification  which  will  accord  with  these  characteristic 
distinctions  is  therefore  desirable  in  our  references  to  the  higher  or  lower 
strata  of  the  world's  population.     The  division  named  by  Professor 
Warneck  as  "culture-peoples"  and  " nalure-peoples "  is,  as  he  himself 
recognizes,  not  satisfactory.^     The  distinctions  suggested  are  not  suffi- 
ciently precise,  nor  are  the  words  "  nature  "  and  "  culture  "  accurate 
designations.     We  would  suggest,  therefore,  a  threefold  division  into 
semi-civilized,  barbarous,  and  savage  peoples;  not  forgetting,  mean- 
while, that  these  are  relative  terms,  and  not  intending  to  imply  that  so- 
called  civilized  nations  represent  the  final  and  highest  possible  form  of 
social  advancement.     By  "  semi-civilized  "  we  would  designate  races 
comparatively  advanced  in  culture,  and  representing  in  varying  degrees 
some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  higher  civilization.     Of  this  class 
Japanese,  Chinese,  and  in  many  respects  Indian  society  would  be  illus- 
trative examples.     By  the  term  "  barbarous  "  we  would  indicate  a  lower 
grade  of  social  life,  not  entitled  to  be  regarded  as  even  semi-civilized, 
and  yet  not  so  degraded  and  brutalized  as  to  be  ranked  among  savages. 
The  populations  of  Central  Asia,  Arabia,  and  the  regions  just  off  the 
coast-line  of  Northern  Africa  are  fair  specimens  of  this  class.     By  the 
term  "  savage  "  the  lowest  grade  of  native  society,  removed  from  all 
touch  with  civilization,  would  be  indicated,  of  which  examples  may  be 
found  throughout  Africa,  in  the  Pacific  Islands,  and  among  the  Indians 
of  the  South  American  Continent. 

In  view  of  these  widely  distinct  gradations  of  non-Christian  society, 
a  corresponding  difference  must  be  noted  in  the  environment  of  the 
missionary,  in  his  function  as  a  social  teacher,  and  in  his  external 
method  of  influencing  and  transforming  society.  In  the  case  of  savage 
races  his  civilizing  r61e  is  limited  to  the  simplest  tutelage  in  the  arts  o* 
decent  and  orderly  living.  He  has  to  teach  the  most  elementary  lessor 
in  the  industrial  arts,  in  economic  principles,  in  human  relationships,  and 
1  Warneck,  "  Modern  Missions  and  Culture,"  p.  39. 


THE  DA  WN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL   ERA   IN  MISSIONS         7 

in  mutual  obligations.     He  is  a  schoolmaster  in  the  commonplaces  of 
social  refinement.     Among  barbarous  races  he  touches  life  at  a  some- 
what higher  level,  and  yet  the  line  which  marks  the  boundary  between 
savagery  and  barbarism  is  so  vague  that  the  ordinary  missionary  is  still 
a  teacher  and  exemplar  of  the  simplest  lessons  of  a  higher  code  of 
living.     Among  the  semi-civilizp'.  p.  .,j>!Ci,  his  grade  of  instruction  is 
superior,  and  he  moulds  society  r  hefly  throtigh  t  - '  icational  and  literary 
instrumentalities,  having  to  do  r    ..n  Jire(  Uy  w  i.  the  mental  develop- 
ment and  moral  culture  of  alrttdy  parti'iiy  ..altivated  natures.     In 
each  instance  he  is  the  teacher  of  Christian  punciples  in  their  applica- 
tion to  the  mind,  heart,  and  life  of  a  more  or  less  degenerate  social  sys- 
tem.'    He  introduces  an  accelerating  force  and  a  refining  temper  into 
social  evolution.     His  aim  is  the  spiritual  regeneration  of  the  individual 
man  and  the  moral  renovation  of  his  surroundings.    He  seeks  to  create 
a  new  atmosphere  for  the  individual  soul  and  for  society  collectively. 
The  point  to  be  insisted  upon  in  this  connection  is  that  the  same  radi- 
cal and  sufficient  remedy  is  needed  in  each  environment.    Semi-civilized 
peoples,  although  they  may  not  be  in  such  depths  of  barbarism  and 
savagery  as  others,  are  still  just  as  manifestly  in  need  of  spiritual  and 
moral  regeneration  as  the  unmistakable  representatives  of  savagery. 

Christianity  cannot  assimilate  the  existing  social  hfe  of  either  the 
higher  heathen  civilization  or  of  the  lower  savagery  unless  it  first  trans- 
forms its  moral  character  and  fashions  it  in  the 
Christian  mould.     Changes  so  radical,  and  reach     ..rtlrn^'du'cL, 
mg  so  deeply  into  the  life  of  society,  cannot  be    "form  movements  in 
hurried  and  rushed  by  artificial  methods.     Social  **"  ^"*- 

reform  in  non-Christian  communities  must  be  evolved  out  of  deeper  and 
more  spiritual  changes  in  the  individual  character.  It  must  be  based 
upon  new  ideals  and  aspirations.  Immemorial  custom  in  Eastern 
society  is  the  highest  and  final  expression  of  the  common  will,  so  that 
not  even  the  supreme  ruler  can  defy  or  make  light  of  it,  except  at 
his  peril.  It  is  public  opinion  in  the  form  of  a  regnant  social  force, 
which  it  is  revolutionary  and  dangerous  rudely  to  disturb.  It  is  mas' 
sive  in  its  inertia,  and  as  irresistible  by  any  power  of  individual  will  as 
the  drift  of  a  continent.2  It  can  be  safely  and  wisely  changed  only 
>  Warneck,  "  Modern  Missions  and  Culture,"  p.  40. 

»  There  is  much  sober  truth  in  the  swinging  and  picturesque  lines  of  Mr.  Rud- 
yard  Kipling: 

"  Now  it  is  not  good  for  the  Christian's  health  to  hustle  the  Aryan  brown 
For  the  Christian  riles  and  the  Aryan  smiles,  and  he  weareth  the  Christian  down  • 
And  the  end  of  the  fight  is  a  tombstone  white  with  the  name  of  the  late  deceased' 
And  the  epitaph  drear :  '  A  fool  lies  here,  who  tried  to  hustle  the  East  '  " 


8  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

through  educational  transformation  and  illuminating  insight,  which  be- 
come  in  themselves  bases  for  other  and  better  habits.  Men  must  see 
the  change  of  ancient  customs  to  be  desirable,  or  they  will  never  be 
persuaded  to  alter  them.  They  must  be  ready,  with  faith  and  courage, 
to  accept  the  criticism  and  personal  sacrifice  which  such  change  m- 
volves,  or  they  will  shrink  from  it  as  perilous  foolhardiness. 

It  is  not  enough,  therefore,  that  an  alien  society  should  become 
Christian  in  name ;  it  must  be  penetrated  and  possessed  by  the  Christian 
spirit.     If  the  nominal  adhesion  is  unduly  in  advance  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  domination,  there  is  danger  that  the  regenerating  forces  of 
Christianity  will  be  overwhelmed  by  the  spirit  of  compromise,  or  that 
a  dangerous  infusion  of  heathen  ideas  and  practices  may  check  their 
moral  effect,  as  was  the  case  at  the  time  of  the  conversion  of  the  Roman 
Empire.     There  is  undoubtedly  a  real  menace  to  the  healthy  growth  of 
Christianity  in  the  sudden  and  rapid  assimilation  of  heathenism  en 
masse,  with  its  ignorance  unenlightened  and  its  spiritual  insensibility 
still  unchanged.     It  is  idle  to  expect  that  the  ancient,  narrow,  petrified 
quasi-civilizations  of  the  non- Christian  worid  should  accept,  in  toto  and 
at  once,  the  liberal  ideas  of  modern  Christian  society,  without  a  rebound 
and  possibly  some  confusion  and  demoralization  ensuing.     Christian 
freedom,  with  its  self-restraint,  would  be  mistaken  for  license,  and 
necessary  social  barriers,  based  upon  expediency  and  confirmed  by  ex- 
perience,  would  be  too  suddenly  thrown  down.     The  semi-barbarous 
or  savage  instincts,  if  called  upon  to  adjust  themselves  too  quickly  to 
radical  changes,  would  be  simply  blinded  and  confused  without  adequate 
guidance  and  poise.     Nor  is  there  less  reason  for  the  exercise  of  a  wise 
and  prudent  reserve  in  the  attitude  of  missionaries  towards  social  ques- 
dons.     Changes  must  not  be  too  hastily  and  peremptorily  insisted  upon ; 
reforms  cannot  be  stampeded.     New  ethical  standards  must  be  judi- 
ciously advocated,  new  moral  principles  must  be  patiently  taught  and 
established,  and  the  final,  effective  appeal  must  be  made  to  an  enlight- 
ened intelligence.     Good  sense  and  prudence  should  restrain  any  un- 
necessary invasion  of  society  with  demands  for  changes  which  are 
merely  concessions  to  foreign  tastes,  uncalled  for  by  the  requirements 
of  moral  principle.     As  society  is  constituted  in  Eastern  lands,  there 
are  canons  of  fashion  and  taste,  regulations  and  customs,  which,  although 
unknown  in  civilized  communities,  have  their  due  and  laudable  place 
in  the  Orient.    These  must  not  be  recklessly  assailed.     Much  must  be 
left  to  adjust  itself  gradually  to  a  new  moral  environment.    Christianity 
can  claim  no  infallible  wisdom  in  the  regulation  and  supervision  of  social 
matters,  except  as  it  establishes  the  law  of  love  and  enforces  the  moral 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS        9 

teachings  of  its  divine  Exemplar.  The  internal  spirit  and  the  control- 
ling principles  of  Christian  civilization  are  the  essential  things,  while  the 
outward  forms  of  civili.  ed  society,  as  revealed  in  the  social  standards 
and  customs  of  Western  Christendom,  are  of  secondary  importance. 
Even  the  external  religious  methods,  and  especially  the  denominational 
divergencies,  of  Western  Christianity  should  be  minimized  rather  than 
needlessly  intruded  and  emphasized.  The  spirit  of  worship,  rather 
than  the  external  form,  is  the  essential  thing.  The  essence  of  right- 
eousness is  the  vital  requirement,  rather  than  those  stereotyped  customs 
and  that  peculiar  coloring  of  life  which  the  Christian  spirit  has  gener- 
ated among  Western  peoples. 

It  is,  therefore,  to  be  expected,  when  we  consider  the  immense  sub- 
stratum of  preliminary  work  which  must  be  done  in  anticipation  ol 
social  transformation  after  Christian  ideals,  that 
sociological  changes  in  foreign  lands  will  be  crad-   ^°'"'  *'""»f°""««''»'» 

i.ol      TU:    •     •    J      J  ,  b"*"       must  come  gradually, 

uai.    1  nis  IS,  indeed,  a  most  characteristic  aspect  of       ■»<»  muit  have  a 
what  has  been  already  achieved.     It  is  preparatory  "'°"'  *""•• 

work.  The  past  century  of  missions  has  been  an  era  of  pioneer  effort 
1  his  IS  true,  in  a  large  sense,  with  reference  to  the  evangelistic  progress 
of  missions.  It  is  especially  so  in  regard  to  social  achievements. 
Christian  missions  found  the  society  of  the  heathen  world  in  varying 
stages  of  demoralization.  This  social  status  was  the  reflection  of  an 
all-round  deterioration  in  individual  character.  Christianity  has  sought 
to  reach  with  its  remedial  forces,  first,  the  individual,  and  then,  through 
the  individual,  to  make  its  influence  felt  upon  society.  It  is  manifest 
that  the  religious  and  moral  basis  of  social  changes  must  be  deeply  and 
substantially  laid  or  it  will  never  avail  as  a  foundation  for  a  superstruc- 

mLl  T    '''^"''  .''^"■'S'  •■'  '°  ^^  '^^  ^"°"gh  to  move  the 

mighty  mass  of  society,  ,t  must  be  of  rock-like  solidity.     It  must  be 
immovaWe  and  effective  in  the  face  of  obstinate  prejudice,  tena   ou 

lovTInd       '         "''""''  '"'  ^°"^^  ^^°^''"y-     ^'  ™"^'  be  sufficiently 
loyal  and  courageous  to  overcome  superstitious  fears,  to  offset  the  im 
pressiye  external  glamour  of  existing  religious  ceremonialism,  and  to 
outlet,  m   sincerity  of  purpose,  in   persistency  of  patience,  and  in 
the  force  of  Its  principle,  the  amazing  vitality  of  the  religious  cov.- 

work  m  the  depths  of  individual  character,  and  in  the  heart  of  the  social 

csrir "' '"  ■"  "■'  "--•  -'"  *'  --  — -  - 

•ml'''''^^u°'  '"°'^'™  "''''°"'  ^'■^"'^  ^^^  that  Of  medieval  in  its 
emphasis  on  the  conversion  of  the  individual  rather  than  on  that  TlZ 


10 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


community  or  the  nation.^  The  attempt  to  convert  a  nation  as  a  col- 
k-ctive  body  is  attended  with  some  grave  perils.  It  is  safer  and  surer 
to  seek  the  result  through  the  slower  method  of  changed  character. 
The  regeneration  of  society  is  at  its  fountainhead  simply  the  regenera- 
tion of  the  heart  of  the  individual  and  the  renewal  of  his  will-power  as 
a  transformed  unit  in  the  social  aggregate.  When  this  process  of  recon- 
structing the  units  has  extended  sufficiently,  the  combined  volume  of 
re-created  personality  gives  us  a  new  social  whole.  The  universal 
tendency  of  natural  development  in  the  world  is  to  laxity  and  indiffer- 
ence in  the  sphere  of  morals.  If  any  individual,  therefore,  is  to  con- 
tribute a  quota  of  positive  and  helpful  force  to  the  elevation  of  social 
morals,  he  must  invariably  be  somewhat  in  advance  of  existing  senti- 
ment, and  must  himself  give  some  perceptible  stimulus  in  the  right 
direction. 

In  the  present  lecture  it  will  be  expedient  to  take  a  survey  of  the 

foundations  which  have  been  laid,  preparatory  to  the  inauguration  of  a 

new  era  of  sociological  development  in  the  case 

Fundamental  factor,  of  of  backward  nations.     Our  first  step  should  be  to 

(octal  progress  in  .   , 

Eastern  lands.  Weigh  the  import  and  Study  the  promise  of  these 
preliminary  achievements,  and  to  view  them  in 
their  true  significance,  as  the  precursors  of  large  and  splendid  advances 
in  the  social  regeneration  of  the  eaith  during  the  coming  centuries.  To 
be  sure,  we  are  dealing  here  with  what  may  be  called  anticipatory  fac- 
tors, introductory  in  their  relations  to  larger  results,  but  there  is,  after 
all,  a  profound  satisfaction  in  witnessing  foundations  deeply  and  solidly 
laid,  outlining  as  they  do  the  superstructure,  and  affording  a  basis 
for  expectation  to  build  upon.  In  this  case  we  may  discover  the 
superstructure  not  only  outlined,  but  clearly  visible  to  faith  and 
reason. 

Turning,  then,  to  the  foundations  rather  than  to  the  superstructure, 
and  considering  preliminary  conditions  rather  than  present  activities 
(which  will  form  the  subject  of  a  subsequent  lecture),  we  shall  proceed 
to  designate,  and  endeavor  to  characterize,  some  achievements  of  mis- 
sions which  are  philosophically  and  historically  of  fundamental  value 
and  necessity,  in  anticipation  of  the  thorough  and  final  reconstruction 
of  non-Christian  society  after  the  ideals  of  Christianity. 

>  Maclear,  "A  History  of  Christian  Missions  During  the  Middle  Ages," 
PP-  399.  4O0- 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  JN  MISSIONS      \\ 


We  name  first  among  these  the  creation  of  a  new  type  of  individual 
character.     In  this  connection  we  should  gratefully  recognize  that  there 
is  inherent  in  humanity  a  more  or  less  noble  en- 
dowment of  manhood  and  womanhood.     There    Theiignificanceofa 
is  in  the  natural  heart  of  man,  unless  brutalized  bv   "'*  '''u*  °'  '"'"^"'"»' 

...  •'  character. 

depravity,  a  measure— m  some  instances  a  gener- 
ous measure-of  fairness,  justice,  honor,  sympathy,  kindness,  consider- 
ateness,  prudence,  good-will,  unselfishness,   and   readiness  to  make 
sacrifices  for  others.     It  is  there  because  it  is  God-planted,  and  because 
human  experience  has  fostered  and  nourished  it.     This  fact,  apart  from 
the  vitalizing  culture  of  true  religion,  is  not  always,  however,  so  much 
in  the  interest  of  society  as  one  would  imagine.     Natural  qualities  may 
suffer  a  sad  eclipse  in  a  degenerate  environment.     The  inherent  good 
in  a  man  is  likely  also  to  meet  with  adverse  currents,  to  fail  at  critical 
points,  to  lack  motive  energy,  to  be  fitful,  uncertain,  wilful,  and  to  yield 
to  stronger  forces  identified  with  self-interest,  ignorance,  superstition, 
and  passion.     The  natural  qualities  cannot  always  be  relied  upon,  and 
have  no  guarantee  of  wisdom,  fidelity,  and  fortitude.     They  are  some- 
times at  cross-purposes  with  the  very  interests  which  they  might  be  ex- 
pected  to  conserve  and  promote.     They  form  a  useful  balance-wheel  in 
the  historic  movement  of  mankind,  and  often  are  of  great  service  in 
arresting  the  otherwise  rapid  disintegration  of  society.     If  their  influ- 
ence were  absolutely  withdrawn,  and  the  regenerating  power  of  Chris- 
Uanity  were  also  lacking,  we  might  well  regard  humanity  as  doomed. 
These  natural  endowments,  therefore,  afford  no  general  and  assured 
basis  of  hope.     In  some  individual  instances  an  exceptional  develop, 
ment  may  be  noted ;  but,  as  a  rule,  they  yield  to  the  forces  which  make 
for  degeneracy.     The  worid  apart  from  Christian  civilization  is  what  it 
IS  to-day  m  spite  of  the  best  gifts  of  nature.     Heathenism,  in  the  sphere 
of  the  soul-hfe,  has  produced,  and  will  continue  to  produce,  fruit  after 
Its  kmd.     If  we  have  nothing  better  to  rely  upon,  as  we  contemplate 
the  future  of  the  race,  than  the  natural  man  under  the  culture  of  ethnic 
systems,  then  all  is  dim,  uncertain,  ominous,  and,  so  far  as  past  experi- 
ence goes,  well-nigh  hopeless.     There  is  in  the  world,  however,  a  power 
which  has  an  endowment  of  moral  energy,  a  supply  of  inspiring  prin- 
ciple, a  fund  of  impulse  and  spiritual  vitahty,  that  can  re-create  and  give 


■\ 


1,1 


la  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

a  new  direction  to  every  natural  quality,  and  accomplish  a  renova- 
tion of  personal  character  which  makes  a  new  type  of  manhood,  such 
as  the  systems  of  human  origin  never  can  produce.    This  power  is 

Christianity. 

Another  thought,  and  an  important  one,  is  in  place  just  here.    While 

considering  the  natural  endowments   of  man,  and  inquiring   as   to 

what  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  them  in  the  de- 

The  reconttruction  of   yelopment  of  civiUzatiou,  we  must  be  careful  how 

character  the  flr.t  reason   from  the  character  and  standing  of 

talk  of  mittioni.  ""=    """  .  i    j  ;« 

ordinary  manhood  and  of  civilization  as  revealed  in 
Christendon-,  quofng  our  conclusions  as  a  vindication  of  the  resources 
and  tendencies  which  pertain  to  natural  capacities  in  non-Christian 
lands.     We  must  remember  that  the  average  quality  of  manhood  and 
the  general  tone  of  civilization  with  u^  are  largely  a  cultivated  product 
of  Christianity,  and  have  gathered  sweetness,  charity,  and  moral  move- 
ment from  the  workings  of  the  law  of  spiritual  heredity.     The  higher 
tendencies  which  may  fairly  be  credited  to  civiliiiation,  after  generations 
of  contact  with  Christian  sentiment,  can  never  properly  be  considered 
to  be  identified  with  it  as  an  outgrowth  of  heathenism.     The  Christian 
type  of  civilization  is  one  thing,  and  the  heathen  type  quite  another,  so 
that  no  argument  based  upon  one  aspect  of  it  applies  to  the  other  with- 
out a  full  recognition  of  this  distinction.     In  a  non-Christian  environ- 
ment we  meet  with  a  characteristic  type  of  individual  character  which, 
for  the  purposes  of  civilization,  must  be  changed.     A  degenerate  indi- 
viduality is,  therefore,  the  first  point  of  contact  between  Christian  mis- 
sions and  he.ithenism,  and  a  reconstructed  character  is  the  earliest  aim 
and  product  of  missionary  effort.     In  this  way  alone  can  a  regenerate 
element  be  introduced  into  the  social  life  of  heathenism.     Only  through 
a  God-possessed  individuality  can  larger  and  more  general  influences 
be  expected.     The  Gospel,  like  a  seed,  must  be  planted  within  in  order 
to  grow  outward.     It  do 3S  not  touch  social  life  with  any  permanent  and 
saving  power  except  by  way  of  secret  fructification  in  the  soil  of  the  in- 
dividual heart.     A  regenerate  man  becomes  a  new  and  living  force  in 
unregenerate  society.^     A  Christian   community,  even  though  small 
and  obscure,  is  a  renewed  section  or  moiety  of  society.     Both  are  as 
leaven  in  the  mass,  with  a  mysterious  capacity  for  permeating  the 
whole.     This  has  been  declared  by  an  accomplished  writer  to  be  the 
distinctive  mark  and  method  of  Christ's  religion.^ 

1  For  some  suggestive  remarks  upon  the  law  of  geometrical  progress  through 
example  centres,  cf,  Giddings,  "  The  Principles  of  Sociology,"  p.  400. 
*  Slater,  "  The  Influence  of  Christ's  Religion  in  History,"  pp.  59,  60. 


-^ 


m 


'  f 


upnH  nlfh "?  'I'r  '"[-'■'?"  ""^'°"  fie'ds  "f  the  United  I'rcsbv  lenan  Church  of  S.oti  u,<l 
"      r^i  ,^i„if,  ^"h'lee^ Edinburgh,  ,*,7.      The  two  standing  arcMle  t?  £r  m  Ka  Tr  ;  , 
o^Mi'k""  '^''JPH'^na-,    Thnse  sittmg  areW.ft.  from  ^Ian'■huria  "nid  k        ' 
<)ld(alabar.andir,ehtUamai.a.    Thenpprrpirtnrr  rei.f.,.-,u"-     'r™f 
ul  native  clergy  ol  the!  hurch  MissionlirySocietyin  South  Inliia' 

Represkntaiivf    Nauvk    Christians. 


si    ! 
Vi    i 

I    i 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS       13 

Individual  character,  moreover,  is  the  point  where  responsibility 
secures  its  hold,  where  public  spirit  may  he  effectively  cultivated,  where 
what  may  be  called  the  social  conscience  can  be  Th«in.pir«tionorth, 
awakened.'  The  inspiration  of  the  individual  tor  individual  for  the  btn«m 
the  b^nefit  of  the  mass  is  the  first  secret  of  social  "irniroVth.'':;.;"' 
progT'.ss,  jusc  as,  on  the  other  hand,  the  demoral-  con»ci«ne«. 

ization  and  paralysis  of  the  individual  work  in  the  end  the  ruin  of  society 
as  a  whole.  The  enlargement  of  the  intellectual  resources  of  any  sin- 
gle  member  of  society,  and  the  cultivation  of  his  mental  powers,  such 
as  the  development  of  the  faculties  of  discrimination,  judgment,  intel- 
lectual  perception,  forethought,  discretion,  prudence,  facility  in  ad- 
justing means  to  an  end,  all  add  to  his  value  as  a  factor  in  social  life, 
and  are  equivalent  to  a  substantial  contribution  to  the  well-being  of 
society.  The  economic  regeneration  of  an  idle,  shiftless,  demoralized, 
unproductive,  and  especially  of  a  destructive,  individuality  into  an  in- 
dustrious,  productive,  and  peaceable  character,  is  equivalent  to  the 
addition  of  so  much  live  capital  to  the  working  force  of  the  com- 
munity.  Thus  the  awakening  in  a  man  of  a  new  capacity  for  the 
recognition  and  appreciation  of  moral  principles,  the  establishment 
within  him  of  a  new  basis  for  fidelity,  loyalty,  firmness,  stability,  and 
singleness  of  purpose,  in  harmony  with  higher  spiritual  standards,  be- 
come  an  increment  accruing  to  the  moral  forces  of  society  which  has 
in  it  the  promise  and  potency  of  a  nobler  domestic,  social,  and  civic 
life.  Herein  is  the  making  of  better  homes,  purer  domestic  relations, 
a  higher  and  finer  social  temper,  a  sounder  and  truer  type  of  citizen- 
ship. The  refinement  wrought  in  rude  or  gross  natures  by  Christianity, 
the  moral  stamina  and  the  serious  purpose  imparted  to  timid,  listless, 
stolid,  or  self-eflFacing  characters,  add  ai  important  contribution  to  social 
resources. 

"  'Tis  in  the  advance  of  individual  minds 
That  the  slow  crowd  should  ground  their  expectations 
Eventaatly  to  follow." 

The  character  of  a  people  is,  after  all,  the  only  sure  reliance  upon 
which  any  substantial  hope  of  improvement  can  be  based.  Religious 
character  in  the  individual  is  the  good  soil  out  of  which  alone  the  higher 
social  virtues  can  spring.2    It  is  the  first  and  highest  function  of  Christian 

1  Nash,  "  Genesis  of  the  Social  Conscience,"  p.  232. 

»  This  new  type  of  indivfdaal  thaiacter  is  in  reality  the  same  conception  which 
is  enforced  so  vigorously  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Mallock,  in  some  able  articles  in  Tht 
Contemporary  Revitw,  on  "  Physics  and  Sociology. "     He  advocates  a  modified  form 


t    ♦ 


u. 


...   . 


!i  I. J 


W  'iA 


P 


14 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROCXESS 


missions  to  produce  in  the  social  environment  of  heathenism  this  new 
creation  of  individual  Christian  character.  This  is,  in  fact,  their  noblest 
and  most  eflfectivc  contribution  to  heathen  society,  and  in  it  is  included 
a  vital  and  expansive  force  to  which  the  entire  community  will  ultimately 
pay  its  tribute  of  respect  and  confidence,  and  welcome  its  alliance  and 
cooperation  as  a  new  and  potent  factor  in  evolving  sd  :al  change.* 

Every  mission  field  will  be  found  to  furnish  examples  of  these  trans- 
formed characters,  fashioned  after  a  pattern  quite  unknown  before 
Christian  teaching  and  morality  were  inuoduced. 
Some  iiiuitratioM  of    j^e  well-known  story  of  Africaner,  the  converted 

'*"TfH«'!" '"  outlaw,!  comes  to  us  out  of  the  depths  of  South 
African  savagery.  Great  Britain  has  come  latterly 
into  contact  with  Khama,  the  Bamangwato  chief  (called  "  the  Toussaint 
L'Ouverture  of  the  Bechuana"),  whose  recent  visit  to  England  has 
been  a  notable  incident  in  missionary  history.  Khama  is  entitled  to 
the  distinction  of  being  a  royal  prohibitionist,  possibly  the  first  and  only 
one  in  the  history  of  the  Dark  Continent.  When  his  father  purchased 
for  him  a  second  wife  and  ordered  him  to  take  her,  he  replied,  "  I  re- 
fuse, on  account  of  the  Word  of  God.  Lay  the  hardest  task  upon  me 
with  reference  to  hunting  elephants  for  ivory,  or  any  service  you  can 

of  "  the  great-man  theory,"  which,  in  its  turn,  might  be  named  "  the  superior-group 
theory,"  and  contends  with  much  cogency  that  social  progress  is  due  in  large  mea- 
sure  to  the  influence  and  activity  of  groups  of  men  inspired  by  superior  motives, 
and  cooperating  ior  the  reformation  and  betterment  of  society.  See  T/it  Contemporary 
Kniav,  Deccml)er,  1895,  pp.  902-908.    Cf.  also  ilmi.,  January  and  February,  1896. 

J  "  In  the  Natal  Missions,  the  Gospel  in  fifty  years  has  taken  a  few  dozen 
young  men,  who  were  once  naked  and  outcast,  and  made  of  them  a  community, 
worth  at  least  $50,000  in  movable  property,  besides  owning  many  thousand  acres  of 
land.  They  work  twelve  months  in  the  year,  and  support  twelve  native  preachers, 
contributing  /;20O  annually  for  their  support.  Their  sons  go  to  Johannesburg,  our 
greatest  gold  centre,  and,  of  their  own  accord,  hold  regular  services,  raise  enough 
money  (;{;40o)  among  themselves  with  which  to  build  a  church,  start  a  night-school, 
and  engage  in  street  preaching,  sending  out  a  blessed  influence  over  hundreds  of  the 
thousands  of  heathen  who  collect  in  that  centre  from  all  parts  of  South  Africa,  some 
of  whom,  being  converted,  go  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  their  heathen  friends.  In  one 
instance,  a  Christian  community  was  formed  where  one  of  those  converts  had  labored." 
-Rev.  George  A.  Wilder  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Gazaland,  East  Africa. 

2  "  He  [Dr.  Moffat]  was  soon  cheered,  however,  by  the  most  gratifying  altera- 
tion in  the  character  of  Africaner  and  his  brothers.  The  chief  began  to  give  signs 
of  an  utter  change  in  life.  He  became  intensely  interested  in  the  Bible,  as  well  as 
in  all  forms  of  Christian  work.  At  nights  he  loved  to  sit  up  and  talk  with  Moffat 
about  the  truths  of  the  Bilile.  .  .  .  Africaner  would  greatly  mourn  the  evil  and 
murderous  deeds  of  his  former  life.  '  What  have  I  now  of  all  the  battles  I  (ought 
and  the  cattle  I  took  but  shame  and  remorse? '  he  would  say.     During  an  illness 


II 


m 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOG/CAL  ERA  W  M/SSIOXS       16 

think  of  ai  a  token  of  my  obedience,  but  I  rannot  take  the  (laughter  of 
Pelwtana  to  wife."  In  his  new  capital  of  Palapye  he  immediately  built, 
in  cooperation  with  his  people,  and  aided  by  contributions  supplied  by 
themselves,  a  sanctuary  that  would  seat  five  thousand.  Concerning 
this  noble  specimen  of  an  African  Christian  ruler  there  is  the  heartiest 
testimony,  from  those  who  know  him  well,  that  he  is  "  a  true  Christian 
gentleman  in  word  and  deed." »  We  find  in  dark  Kaffraria  that  faith- 
ful Emgwali  group  of  converts  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Mission  of 
Scotland,*  and  listen  also  to  the  story  of  Botoman,  the  chief  of  the 
Gcalekas,  who  in  his  old  age,  after  a  life  of  savage  warfare,  gave 
his  heart  to  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  now  in  his  ninetieth  year  lingers 
in  the  light  and  calm  of  Gospel  trust.  In  his  present  joy  Botoman  has 
"  only  one  regret— that  his  eyes  had  not  been  opened  sooner,  so  that  ht 
might  have  given  his  better  days  to  the  service  of  God."' 

of  Moffat's,  the  once  dreaded  outlaw  nursed  him  with  all  the  tenderness  of  a 
woman.  .  .  . 

"  He  died  in  1823.  When  he  felt  his  death  approaching,  he  gathered  his  people 
together,  and  exhorted  them  to  remember  that  they  were  no  longer  savages,  but 
Christians  and  men  of  peace.  He  testified  to  his  own  love  of  God,  and  that  lie 
had  done  much  for  him  of  which  he  was  totally  unworthy. "-Home,  "  The  Story 
of  the  London  Missionary  S<Kiety,"  pp.  73,  74,  Cf.  also  Pierson,  "  The  Miracles 
of  Missions,"  Second  Series,  p.  172. 

»  Mrs.  J.  D.  Hepburn  writes  of  him  as  follows :  "  It  is  now  nearly  a  quarter  of 
a  century  since  Khama  and  I  became  friends.     We  were  with  him-my  husband 
and  I-through  these  long  years,  in  sorrow  and  in  joy ;  through  times  of  famine  and 
of  plenty  i  through  the  miseries  of  war,  and  in  the  quietude  of  peace  and  prosperity. 
\\t  have  tasted  persecution  together;  and  together  have  been  permitted  to  see  the 
desert  rejoicmg  and  blossoming  as  the  rose,  under  the  good  hand  of  our  God  upor 
us.     But  more  than  this;  for  months  at  a  time,  while  my  husband  was  visiting  the 
Lake  Ngam.  people,  have  I  been  left,  with  my  children,  under  Khama's  sole  pro- 
tecnon  and  guardianship;  and  no  brother  could  have  cared  for  us  more  thoughtfully 
ami  kmdly.     During  these  absences  of  his  missionary,  I  have  often  had  to  assist  the 
ch.ef  .nterpretmg  and  corresponding  for  him,  and  advising  him  in  any  difT.culties 
which  might  ar.se.     And  in  all  our  intercourse  I  c«i  most  gratefully  say  that  he 
was  to  me  always  a  true  Christian  gentleman  in  word  and  deed.     No  one  now  living 
knows    Khama  the  Good '  as  I  know  him.     Did  they  do  so,  they  could  but  honour 
and  trus    h.m,  as  I  do  from  my  heart."-Hepburn,  "Twenty  Years  in  Khama's 
Country     pp.  3,2.  3,3.     cf.  also  article  by  the  Rev.  Josiah  Tyler,  in  The  Afis. 
uonary  Rnnn.  of  the  World,  February,  ,894.  p.  .06.  and  .  "  Character  Sketch  "  of 
Khama  m  Th,Rn,nv  cf  Rn,ieu.s  (English  edition),  October,  1895,  p.  303.     Mr 
Horne.  m  ••  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society."  estimates  highly  his 
Christian  character  and  services  (pp.  255,  256) 

Life\lt^:\';o%7g:"°"''''''"^^ 

»  Tkt  Musionary  Record,  October,  1896.  pp.  300-305. 


m 


It 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


W«?  pause  for  a  moment  to  turn  the  leaves  of  a  strange  epistle  in  a 
recent  mail  from  Uganda.  It  is  a  meHsajje  of  peace  and  love  from  the 
African  king  of  Toro,  to  "  the  Klde rs  »i  the  Church  in  Kurope."  Was 
there  ever  such  a  greeting  of  simple,  hearty  Christian  feeling  from  the 
central  realms  of  savagery,  which  have  resounded  from  primeval  days 
with  the  shouts  of  tribal  warfare  and  the  cries  of  suffering  victims  of 
cruelty?  What  power  but  the  Go8i>el  could  have  drawn  a  letter  so  full 
of  gentleness  and  kindly  simplicity  out  of  the  heart  of  an  African  king?  ' 

»  The  letter  ffferreil  to  wm  ilictotetl  to  Mr.  A.  B.  Lloyd,  of  the  Church  MU- 
sionary  Society  in  Igamla,  and  the  trannlalion  ii  literal-in  the  king'i  own  word*: 

"  Hktkriemu,  Toro,  Fchii  ary  I,  1S97. 

"To  MY  DKAR  FrIKNDS  TMK  Ei.I>KRS  «>K  THE  ClllRllI  IN  EfRol'F.: 

"  I  greet  y  m  very  much  in  our  Lord  Je»m  Christ,  who  died  for  u«  on  the  crosi 
to  make  us  children  of  (:<h1.     How  are  you,  sirs? 

"1  am  Kaudi  [David)  Kasaganm,  King  of  Toro;  the  reason  why  I  commence 
to  tell  yuu  that  is  Utausc  I  wi.h  you  t<>  know  me  well.  God  our  Father  gave  me 
the  Kingdom  of  Toro  t.>  reign  over  for  Ilim ;  therefore  I  write  to  you,  my  lirethren, 
10  beseech  you  to  remeiuber  n.e  and  to  pray  for  me  every  day  — all  the  days. 

'  I  praise  my  Lord  very  much  indeed  for  the  words  of  the  Gospel  He  brought 
into  my  country,  an.l  you,  my  brothers,  I  thank  you  for  sending  teachers  to  come 
here  to  teach  us  such  beautiful  words.  I  therefore  tell  you  that  I  want  very  much, 
God  giving  me  strength,  to  arrange  all  the  matters  of  this  country  for  Him  only, 
that  all  my  people  may  understand  that  Christ  Jesus  He  is  the  Saviour  of  all 
countries,  and  that  He  is  the  King  of  all  kings.  Therefore,  sirs,  I  tell  you 
that  I  have  built  a  very  large  church  in  my  capital,  and  we  call  it  '  The  Church  ot 

St.  John.' 

"  Also,  that  very  many  people  come  every  day  into  the  church  to  learn  the 
'  Words  of  Life  '-perhaps  150.  Also,  on  Sunday  they  are  very  many  who  come 
tu  worship  God  our  Father  in  His  holy  church  and  to  praise  Him.  I  also  tell  you 
that  in  the  gardens  near  here  we  have  built  six  churches.  The  people  of  this  place 
have  very  great  hunger  indeed  for  the  '  Hread  of  Life '-many  die  every  day  while 
still  in  their  sins,  l>ecause  they  do  not  hear  the  Gospel.  The  teachers  are  few,  and 
those  who  wish  to  read  many.  Therefore,  sirs,  my  dear  friends,  have  pity  on  the 
people,  in  great  darkness  ;  they  d.i  not  know  where  they  are  going. 

•'  Also,  1  want  to  tell  you  that  there  are  very  many  heathen  nations  close  to  my 
country-Abakonjo,  Abamlia,  Abahoko,  Abasagal*.  Abasongola,  Abaega,  and  many 
others  in  darkness.  We  heard  that  no-  in  Uganda  there  are  English  ladies;  but, 
sirs,  here  is  very  great  need  for  ladies  to  come  and  teach  our  ladies.  I  want  very, 
very  much  that  tliey  come. 

"  Also,  my  friends,  help  us  every  day  in  your  prayers.  I  want  my  country  to 
be  a  strong  lantern  that  is  not  put  out,  in  this  land  of  darkness. 

'•  Also,  I  wish  to  make  dear  friends  in  Europe,  because  we  are  one  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Saviour.     Now  good-bye,  my  dear  friends.     God  be  with  you  in  all  your 

decisions.  ,  .      .     ,     ,  •    t 

"  I  am  your  friend  who  loves  you  in  Jesus, 

"  Daudi  Kasagama." 
Quoted  from  Tht  Church  Missionary  Intelligtnur,  June,  1897,  pp.  456,  457. 


..I 


THR  DA  WN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA   IN  MISSIONS       17 

Over  on  the  Weit  Coast,  with  it*  dark  and  bloody  annali  of  slav-   /, 
cannitialism,  human  larrifices,  and  every  nameless  atrocity,  we  find  in 
mission  records  the  story  of  strong  and  purified 
characters,  such  as  the  Rev.  "homas  J.  Marshall,  c.mro"'.r'°th.'b'i^fc. 
of  Porto  Novo,  who  was  bom  in  "one  of  the      •«  ii«)«  m <i«rin.i 
blackest  spots  in  darkest  Africa,"  became  an  hon-  *'"«•*•» 

ored  minister  of  a  native  church,  and  has  been  instrumental  in  leading  a 
whole  people  into  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  Christianity."     There 
is  the  Rev.  Jacob  B.  Anaman,  a  native  minister  of  the  Gold  Coast,  who 
has  been  made  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographic  al  Society.'    There  is 
Sir  Samuel  Lewis,  Mayor  of  Freetown,  a  native  of  Sierra  Leone,  who 
in  i8yj  was  appointed  a  Companion  of  the  Order  of  St.  Michael  and 
St.  George,  and  whom  the  Queen  of  Great  Rritain  has  recently  distin- 
guished by  the  Order  of  Knighthood,  who  is  "  the  first  pure  Negro  in 
West  Africa- indeed,  in  the  world-on  whom  such  honor  has  been 
confe-red."     He  is  a  convert  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Mission,  and 
an  exemplary  follower  of  Christ.^     The  story  of  Bishop  Crowther  has 
become  a  household  word  in  mission  annals.     On  February  1 1,  1897, 
at  Cline  Town,  Sierra   Leone,  was  laid  the  foundation  stone  of  a' 
memorial  church  which  is  to  bear  his  name.     The  story  of  how  the 
slave  boy  became  the  Bishop  of  the  Niger  is  a  romance  of  modern  mis- 
sions.*    Following  in  his  footsteps  we  have  at  the  present  moment 
Bishops  Phillips  and  Oluwole  (see  illustration  facing  p.  394  in  Vol.  L) 
two  excellent  and  worthy  natives  connected  with  the  Church  Mission-* 
ary  Society. 

In  the  Pacific  Lslands,  long  the  home  of  bestiality  and  diabolical 
crime,  we  have  many  gracious  examples  of  men  made  over  into  the 
Christlikeness.     Imperfect  and  in  some  respects 
mconsistent  they  may  have  been  at  times,  but   p«cIBc  itUndtn  mad. 
they  are  nevertheless  distinctively  new  types  of     """'  '?*k,^^t/^*""*' 
character,  absolutely  unknown  until  Christian  mis- 
sions produced  them.     Read  the  chapter  in  Dr.  Paton's  "Autobiogra- 
phy" entitled  "  Pen- Portraits  of  Aniwans."     In  the  records  of  the 
Melanesian  Mission  we  meet  with  the  Rev.  George  Sarawia,  the  first 
baptized  convert  from  the  Banks  Group,  a  friend  and  prot^g^  of  Bishop 
Patteson,  who  "has  always  been  the  chief  influence  for  good  in  Mota, 
an  island  which,  largely  through  his  personal  influence,  has  now  become 

»   Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  FieU,  October,  1895,  pp.  406-412 
»  Ibid.,  January,  180-.    p.  28. 
»  Ibid.,  March,  1896,  pp.  108-H4. 

*  Page.  •'  Samuel  Crowther  ";  Creegan,  "Grjat  Missionaries  of  the  Church  " 
pp.  125-140;  Pierson,  "The  Miracles  of  Missions,"  Second  Series,  pp.  ,07-126.' 


M 


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Si 


18 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIOXS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


entirely  Christian."  *  We  read  also  of  the  Rev.  Clement  Marau,  the  de- 
voted native  missionary  to  Ulaua,  in  the  Solomon  Islands.'  In  fact,  al- 
most every  island  which  has  come  under  the  sway  of  Christianity  seems 
to  have  had  as  its  apostle  and  saviour  some  man  of  native  birth,  raised 
up  u  ler  the  culture  of  Christianity,  to  reveal  the  patience  of  Christian 
love,  and  discharge  a  new  and  transforming  service  for  his  fellow-men. 
Mota  has  its  George  Sarawia ;  Vanua  Lava  its  Edwin  Wogale ;  Motlav 
its  Henry  Tagalana ;  Merelava  its  Clement  Marau  and  William  Vaget ; 
Cristoval  its  Stephen  Taroniara,  and  Florida  its  Charles  Sapibuana.' 
The  story  of  the  conversion  of  the  South  Island  of  New  Zealand,  a 
half-century  ago,  brings  to  light  the  heroism  of  two  native  Christians 
from  the  North  Island,  Tamihana  and  Matina  Te  Whiwhi,  who,  in  the 
face  of  many  perils,  gave  themselves  up  to  this  arduous  task.* 

In  his  address  at  the  ninety-fifth  anniversary  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  Bishop  Stuart,  recently  returned  from  New  Zealand, 
spoke  with  admiration,  and,  to  use  his  own  word,  with  "  reverence," 
of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  exemplified  to  a  wonderful  ex- 
tent  in  the  lives  of  Maori  Christians,  and  testified  that  there  were 
those  who  were  giving  themselves  to  missionary  service  among  their 
fellow-countrymen  with  true  devotion  and  loyalty  to  duty.*  An  illus- 
tration of  the  way  in  which  this  service  is  gratefully  honored  by  the 
natives  themselves  is  revealed  in  the  action  of  the  people  of  Lifu, 
who,  in  1893,  purchased  at  Sydney  an  obelisk  to  be  set  up  over  the 
grave  of  their  first  evangelist,  in  commemoration  of  the  jubilee  anni- 
versary of  the  introduction  of  the  Gospel  to  that  island.  The  evangelist 
referred  to  landed  in  Lifu  from  Rarotonga  in  1842,  and  over  his  grave 
has  been  inscribed  this  legend :  "  A  memorial  of  the  jubilee  of  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  Christ  in  this  land ;  this  stone  is  erected  over  the  grave 
of  Pao,  who  first  brought  the  Word  of  God  to  this  country."  «  In  the 
savage  island  of  New  Guinea  there  is  at  the  present  day  a  large  num- 
ber of  native  missionaries,  mostly  from  the  Malua  Training  Institution 
in  the  distant  Samoan  Group,  who  will  some  day  be  worthy  of  the  same 
tribute  from  grateful  Christian  communities. 

The  Queen  of  Manua  (a  small  group  of  islands  in  the  Samoan 
Archipelago),  shortly  before  her  death,  made  an  address  at  the  dedica- 

1  Montgomery,  "  The  Light  of  Melanesia,"  pp.  47-52. 

2  Il>i,l.,  pp.  68,  198.  S  IbiJ.,  p.  208. 

«  Mason,  "  Round  the  Round  World  on  a  Church  Mission,"  p.  301. 

*  The  Church  Missionaty  Inlellisfncer,  June,  1894,  pp.  422,  423. 

•  King,  "  Ten  Decades:  The  Australian  Centenary  Story  of  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,"  p.  196.  The  Rev.  George  Cousins,  in  "  The  Story  of  the  South 
Seas  "(pp.  148-154),  has  given  an  account  of  Pao's  work  in  Lifu. 


y 


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i 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      19 

don  of  a  house  of  worship  in  her  capital,  in  which  we  have  surely  a 
new  and  strange  message  from  the  royal  Ups  of  a  South  Sea  potentate. 
After  voicing  on  behalf  of  the  people  her  gratitude  for  the  gifts  and 
blessings  of  Christianity,  the  queen  remarked  in  closing :  "  My  last  word 
to  you  is  to  urge  you  to  accept  and  obey  Christ's  new  commandment 
which  He  gave  to  His  disciples,  and  to  us,  each  and  all :  •  Love  one 
another.'  How  can  a  people  be  blessed  if  God's  Word  is  not  obeyed?  "  ^ 
The  history  of  missions  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  also  reveals  the  power 
of  Christianity  to  create  strong  and  noble  characters.^  "The  best 
specimen  of  the  Christian  hero  that  I  ever  met  was  one  of  these  native 
missionaries,"  writes  the  late  Mr.  R.  L.  Stevenson,  after  his  visit  to  the 
Gilbert  Islands.'  He  referred  to  Maka,  the  Hawaiian  missionary  at 
Butaritari.  In  the  same  chapter  he  relates  an  interview  with  Kauwea- 
loha,  another  pastor,  who  told  him  the  story  of  the  rescue  of  an  Amer- 
ican captive  from  the  clutches  of  cannibals,  by  Kekela,  a  native  col- 
league in  missionary  labor  on  the  Island  of  Hiva-oa,  who  was  subse- 
quently rewarded  for  his  heroism  by  the  American  Government,  and 
also  by  President  Lincoln.  From  the  latter  he  received  the  persona, 
gift  of  a  watch.  Mr.  Stevenson  gives  in  full  the  simple  and  touching 
letter  of  the  native  hero  in  acknowledgment  of  this  gift,  and  remarks, 
"  I  do  not  envy  the  man  who  can  read  it  without  emotion."  * 

Before  dismissing  these  savage  races,  we  may  note  that  there  are 
illustrations  among  the  American  Indian  tribes  that  fully  sustain  the 
claim  advanced.  In  a  recent  Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
Archdeacon  Phair  writes  of  the  Sioux  Indians  in  Canada :  "  It  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  work  among  these  Indians  has  a  special  interest. 
First  of  all,  they  are  refugees  from  the  American  side  of  the  line,  and 
have  been  engaged  for  a  long  time  in  unspeakable  deeds  of  darkness. 
When  I  passed  through  them  some  thirty  years  ago,  on  my  journey 
from  St.  Paul  to  Fort  Garry,  they  were  engaged  in  a  massacre  which 
for  diabolical  acts  of  cruelty  has  no  equal.  ...  To  these  men,  hard- 
ened in  crime  and  stained  with  blood,  the  message  of  peace  and  pardon 
through  the  blood  of  Clurist  was  taken,  and  my  readers  should  see  those 
that  received  it,  clothed  and  in  their  right  mind,  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus.  I  know  of  no  better  object-lesson  on  the  meaning  and  value  of 
missions  than  that  to  be  learned  by  a  visit  to  these  people.  .  .  .  Sitting 

»  For  the  full  text  of  the  address  see  The  Spirit  of  Misiions,  May,  1896,  p.  220. 
»  Alexander,  "  The  Islands  of  the  Pacific,"  pp.  178-183. 
•  Stevenson,  "  In  the  South  Seas,"  p.  91. 

«  Ibid.,  p.  94.    See  a  similar  instance  recorded  by  Gill,  in  "  From  Darkness 
to  Light  in  Polynesia,"  pp.  358,  359. 


\ 


20 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


in  the  litde  hut  beside  a  man  of  fourscore  years,  one  can  easily  see  what 
missions  have  accomplished.  The  sanguinary  warrior  has  exchanged 
his  paint,  and  feathers,  and  thirst  for  blood  for  a  European  costume  and 
a  large  Bible  in  his  own  tongue.  Listen  to  his  estimate  of  this  newly 
found  treasure :  '  It  gave  me  the  light ;  it  has  true  words,  from  one  side 
to  the  other.  It  has  strength  in  it,  too,  for  what  it  says  it  is  able  to  do. 
It  has  changed  men  that  nothing  else  could  change;  I  like  it  for 
this.'  .  .  .  These  Indians  value  the  House  of  God,  and  are  pleased 
when  they  have  anything  to  offer  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  among 
the  Indians.  They  live  together  in  peace  and  harmony,  and  are  an 
example  to  their  white  neighbors  in  honesty  and  industry."  * 

In  India,  a  land  where  native  talent  has  won  for  itself  distinction 
and  a  commanding  position  in  professional  and  political  life,  we  find  a 

long  roll  of  native  Christians,  men  of  eminence  and 

Some  pcrionat  fruiti  of  ability,  who  have  honored  their  faith,  and  exem- 

missions  in  India,      pijfied  a  type  of  personal  righteousness  and  moral 

strength  which  is  recognized  at  once  as  the  fruit 
of  Christianity.  We  have  read  a  most  .'nteresting  account  of  many  of 
these  in  a  little  volume,  published  in  1896,  by  Professor  S.  Satlhianad- 
han,  M.A.,  LL.M.,  of  Madras.  Among  the  forty-two  brief  biographies 
given  therein,  selected  from  the  thousands  of  Indian  Christians,  are 
many  names  which  would  be  an  honor  to  Christianity  in  any  age  or  in 
any  land.  Prominent  among  them,  to  mention  only  a  few,  we  find  the 
father  of  the  author,  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Satthianadhan,  Mr.  Ram  Chandra 
Bose,  the  Rev.  Lai  Bihari  Day,  the  Rev.  Mathura  Nath  Bose,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Imad-ud-Din,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Narayan  Sheshadri,  the  Rev.  Dhanjibhai 
Naoroji,  and  the  Rev.  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea.  To  this  list  we  may 
add  the  Rev.  K.  C.  Chatterjee,  of  Hoshyarpore.  These  are  men  of 
whom  Indian  Christianity  may  well  be  proud.  We  refer  to  them  as 
representative  of  a  class  too  numerous  to  mention  here,  except  by 
examples.  Dr.  George  Smith,  under  the  title  of  "  A  Christian  Brahman 
and  His  Converts,"  has  given  a  sympathetic  sketch  of  a  remarkable 
Indian  Christian,  the  Rev.  Nilakanth  Sastri  Goreh,^  and  also  of  Dr. 
Narayan  Sheshadri,  whom  he  designates  as  "  The  Brahman  Apostle  of 
the  Outcaste  Mangs."  ^  One  of  those  mentioned  above,  the  Rev.  Dhan- 
jibhai Naoroji,  of  Bombay,  has  just  celebrated  the  jubilee  of  his  mis- 
sionary career,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in  a  native  paper  of  Madras. 
In  an  appreciative  address  presented  to  him  by  his  fellow-Christians 

»  "  Report  of  Church  Missionary  Society,  1896-97,"  pp.  405,  406. 

»  Tht  Mission  IVorld,  February,  1896,  pp.  58-61. 

»  Tht  Missionary  Rtiim  of  the  World, '^dsi'wx^,  1893,  p.  45. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA   IN  MISSIONS      31 

of  the  Poona  Marathi  Presbyterian  Church,  some  incidents  of  his  career 
are  given.*  "  From  first  to  last  during  my  sojourn  in  India,"  writes 
Mr.  Julian  Hawthorne,  "  I  saw  many  native  Christians.  Those  that 
I  saw  are  a  remarkable  and  impressive  body  of  men  and  women.  I 
was  always  saying  to  myself,  'They  are  like  the  people  of  the  Bible.' 
Some  wore  European  dress ;  others  did  not.  Their  aspect  was  gentle, 
sincere,  and  modest."  -^  The  Rev.  Robert  Clark  (C.  M.  S.),  in  referring 
to  the  recent  death  of  the  Rev.  John  Williams,  a  native  pastor  and 
medical  missionary  at  Tank,  a  station  at  tlie  entrance  of  the  Gomal 
Pass,  among  the  wild  Waziri  tribes  of  the  northwestern  frontier,  writes 
of  him  in  terms  which  reveal  the  possibilities  of  Christian  manhood  and 
commanding  influence  on  the  part  of  native  converts.^ 

Chinese  Christianity  presents  also  its  quota  of  changed  characters, 
not  less  notable  than  those  who  have  been  designated.     A  few  typical 
personages  will  be  briefly  mentioned.     Elder  Loo 
Kitmg-Dong  served  foi  >  wenty  years  as  cashier  of     chrittun  character 
the  mission  press  at  Shanghai.     "  Hundreds  of    "'""'H'd  rapan!^"'" 
thousands  of  dollars  passed  through  his  hands,  and 
it  is  not  known  that  a  single  dollar  was  ever  misappropriated.     He 
died  suddenly,  with  his  accounts  in  order."    "  Old  Wang,"  the  first 

»  The  following  sentences  from  the  docnment  p'esented  testify  to  the  estimate 
placed  upon  Mr.  Naoroji's  Christian  character : 

"  You  were  the  first  and  foremost  of  all  the  Parsi  converts  to  come  out  and  join 
the  Church  of  Christ,  and  though  your  path  lay  through  many  trials  and  persecu- 
tions,  these  did  not  daunt  your  courage.  Through  God's  grace  you  stood  firm  to 
be  a  glorious  witness  for  Ilim  in  this  land.  Your  career  since  then  has  been  like 
the  path  of  the  righteous  man.  .  .  .  Your  work  in  this  country  is  well  known. 
You  are  the  recognized  leader  of  the  Indian  Christian  community  in  Western  India 
and  you  have  exercised  all  your  gifts  and  talents  for  the  promotion  of  its  well^ 
being."- r-4*  Christian  Patriot,  Madras,  December  17,  1896.  See  also  The  free 
Church  0/ Scotland  Monthly.  November,  1897,  p.  269,  and  December,  1897,  p.  29,. 
The  CoitnopoUtan,  September,  1897,  pp.  517,  518. 

»  Mr.  Clark's  words  are  as  follows:  "  By  his  gentle  and  winning  manners,  his 
kmdness  to  the  people,  and  his  medical  skill,  he  won  hit  way  amongst  the  Waziri 
dans,  and  he  was  probably  the  only  Christian  man  in  India  who  could  in  those  days 
travel  unarmed,  and  without  any  escort,  uninjured  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  that  mountainous  country  of  wild  Mohammedans. 

"  The  Government  repeatedly  bore  witness  to  the  influence  which  John  Williams 
had  gained  over  these  wild  tribes,  and  to  the  political  advantages  which  they  had 
received  through  his  means.  When  the  Waziris  attacked  and  burnt  Tank  in  1879, 
they  placed  a  sentry  of  their  own  over  the  Christian  hospital,  and  over  the  house  of 
the,r  Chrisuan  friend  and  teacher,  from  whom  they  had  often  heard  of  the  Gospel  of 
i-hrist.  and  thus  ensured  his  safety  in  perilous  times."-"  Report  of  Church  Mission- 
ary  Soaety,  1897,"  p.  221. 


.'■,  «a 


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32 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Chinese  evangelist  in  Manchuria,  who  has  been  sketched  by  the  Rev. 
John  Ross,  was  a  notable  illustration  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to 
glorify  natural  character,  and  to  give  to  the  whole  of  life  an  inflexible 
purpose  in  righteousness.*     Dr.  Dugald  Christie,  in  a  volume  relating 
his  medical  experience  in  Manchuria,  cites  the  story  of  blind  Chang, 
whose  disreputable  life  was  changed  into  that  of  a  sincere  Christian, 
and  who  upon  his  own  responsibility  engaged  in  a  work  of  Gospel 
evangelism,  and  brought  hundreds  to  Christ.'    The  Rev.  Hunter 
Corbett,  D.D.,  has  published  a  little  pamphlet  in  which  he  gives  an  ac- 
count of  Elder  Wang  Pao-Kwei,  of  Chefoo,  who  died  June  24,  1894, 
"  after  twenty-four  years  of  stainless  Christian  living."  »     In  the  records 
of  the  South  Church,  Peking,  connected  with  the  missions  of  the 
American  Board,  the  first  entry,  dated  March  6,  1865,  is  as  follows: 
"  Jung  Lin,  Embroidered  Yellow  Bannerman,  age  forty  years,  baptized 
second  year  of  the  Emperor  Tung  Chih,  second  moon,  fourth  day." 
This  legend  signalized  the  beginning  of  a  life  of  Christian  devotion 
which  ended  August,  1895,  after  thirty  years  of  consistent  living,  in  the 
midst  of  many  temptations  and  much  violent  persecution.     For  a 
quarter  of  a  century  he  officiated  daily,  except  Saturdays,  seldom  fail- 
ing to  be  in  his  usual  place,  in  a  chapel  which  was  opened  in  a  promi- 
nent street  of  Peking.     He  was  a  quaint  and  unusual  character,  but 
through  his  eccentricities  there  shone  out  the  light  of  a  new  life,  which 
was  spent  in  truly  apostolic  service.*     In  Hinghua  lives  Hung-Deh- 
Ging,  who  since  his  acceptance  of  the  Gospel,  some  six  years  ago,  has 
voluntarily  preached  Christ  to  his  countrymen,  and  has  been  instru- 
mental in  opening  many  centres  of  Christian  work  in  that  vicinity. 
The  Rev.  S.  L.  Baldwin,  D.D.,  in  a  volume  of  missionary  biographies, 
has  portrayed  the  earnest  life  and  abounding  labors  of  Sia  Sek  Ong,  the 
exemplar  and  advocate  of  native  liberality  in  the  Foochow  Mission  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.     In  concluding  the  sketch,  Dr.  Bald- 
win remarks  of  him :  "  His  work  abides  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  those 
whom  he  brought  to  Christ,  and  in  the  influences  he  set  in  motion  for 
the  awakening  of  a  new  life  among  his  people."  *     Mrs.  Bishop  writes 
that  Joldan,  the  Tibetan  postmaster  in  the  British  office  at  Leh,  "  is  a 
Christian  of  spotless  reputation,"  whose  humble  spirit  and  consistent 
character  make  him  a  living  epistle  in  that  dark  land.^ 

1  Ross,  "  Old  Wang,  the  First  Chinese  Evangelist  in  Manchuria." 

i  Christie,  "  Ten  Years  in  Manchuria,"  pp.  28-30. 

»  The  Church  at  Homt  and  Abroad,  March,  1895,  p.  212. 

*  The  Missionary  Herald,  April,  1 897,  p.  137. 

8  "  The  Picket  Line  of  Missions,"  pp.  151-182. 

(  Bishop,  "  Among  the  Tibetans,"  p.  loi. 


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THE  DAWN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      33 


In  Japan  the  record  is  similar.  God-fearing,  devout,  and  true- 
hearted  Christians  testify  by  their  changed  lives  to  that  moral  renewal 
which  comes  with  intelligent  loyalty  to  Christ.  The  story  of  Ansai 
Takeichi,  who  has  been  called  a  Christian  statesman  of  Japan,  is  told 
in  one  of  our  recent  magazines.^  Dr.  De  Forest's  account  of  a  Japa- 
nese lieutenant  who  was  engaged  in  the  Formosan  campaign,  condenses 
into  a  w  sentences  the  striking  record  of  what  a  Japanese  Christian 
can  do.^  A  life  that  comes  nearer  home  to  American  readers  is  that  of 
Sanjuro  Ishimoto,  late  professor  in  the  Meiji  Gakuin,  Tokyo,  who  died 
at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  November  2,  1895,  where  in  connection  with 
the  College  and  Theological  Seminary  he  was  seeking  a  higher  prepara- 
tion for  future  service  in  his  native  land.'  The  files  of  TTie  Japan 
Evangelist,  and  the  current  records  of  Christian  biography,  yield  nu- 
merous examples,  such  as  the  lamented  Dr.  Neesima,  the  late  Mr. 
Sawayama  of  Osaka,  Mr.  Ishti  of  Okayama,  Mr.  Ibuka  of  Tokyo, 
Mr.  Takahashi,  Mr.  Matsuyama,  Mr.Tomeoka,  and  many  others,  which 
show  that  Christianity  in  Japan,  as  elsewhere,  means  a  new  and  en- 
nobled type  of  manhood. 

We  must  not  forget  to  note  in  this  connection  that  woman  has  also 
an  honored  place  in  the  roll-call  of  character  throughout  mission  fields. 
Such  beautiful  lives  as  those  of  Mrs.  Anna  Satthianadhan  and  her 
daughter-in-law,  Krupabai,  and  Mrs.  Tabitha  Bauboo,  all  of  Madras,* 
Mrs.  Ahok  of  Foochow,'  Mrs.  lap  of  Amoy,«  and  Mrs.  Teng  of  Pe- 
king,^ and  many  also  in  the  neighboring  kingdom  of  Japan,  such  as  the 
late  Mrs.  Ishii  of  Okayama,*  Mrs.  Kashi  Iwamoto » and  Mrs.  Yajima, 


I  f 


4 


1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  September,  1895,  p.  220;  quoted  from  The 
Japan  Evangelist,  June,  1895,  p.  275. 

*  "  This  one  Christian  officer  prevents  his  whole  regiment  from  drinking  tak/, 
forms  a  temperance  society  among  his  soldiers,  prohibits  prostitution  in  a  Chinese 
city  of  70,000,  establishes  Christian  service  in  the  city,  and  raises  $3500  from 
Chinese  and  Japanese  with  which  to  erect  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  soldiers 
who  fell  in  battle,  and  then  resigns  to  go  back  to  Formosa  as  a  Christian  official, 
with  seven  other  Christians  under  Yam."— The  Missionary  Herald,  September, 
1896,  p.  352. 

s  Consult  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Ishimoto's  life,  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  James  M. 
McCauley,  in  The  Japan  Evangelist,  April,  1896,  pp.  205-209. 

*  Satthianadhan,  "  Sketches  of  Indian  Christians,"  pp.  25-53.  Cf.  also  The 
Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  September,  1896,  pp.  670-677. 

*  Barnes,  "  Behind  the  Great  Wall,"  pp.  60-90. 

«  The  Mission  Eield  (Rel.  C.  A.),  February,  1897,  p.  326. 
'  Woman's  Work/or  Woman,  February,  1895,  p.  42. 

*  The  Asylum  Record,  December,  1896,  p.  5. 

*  The  Japan  Evangelist,  April,  1896,  pp.  329-237. 


'1 


■<\    I 


24 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIOXS  AXD  SOCIAL  PXOGXESS 


1 


both  of  Tokyo,*  are  sufficient  evidence  that  Christianity  will  give  a  pure 
and  saintly  charm  to  the  character  of  womanhood  the  world  over. 

Thus  out  of  the  humble  annals  of  missions  a  fresh  chapter  in 
biography  might  be  written,  which  would  lose  nothing  in  comparison 
with  the  story  of  victorious  lives  in  other  generations. 

"  Saints  of  the  early  dawn  of  Christ,  Saints  of  Imperial  Rome, 
Saints  of  the  cloistered  Middle  Age,  Saints  of  the  modern  home, 
Saints  of  the  soft  and  sunny  East,  Saints  of  the  frozen  seas, 
SainU  of  the  isles  that  wave  their  palms  in  the  far  Antipodes." 


XI 

A  second  achievement  of  missions,  of  strategic  import  and  funda- 
mental value,  is  the  creation  of  a  new  public  opinion.     Changes  in  pub- 
lic opinion  are  usually  so  impalpable  in  character, 
The  ■trategie  import   jjjjj  gQ  imperceptible  in  progress,  that  it  is  some- 
"iuwrc'Sinro"''      times  difficult  to  discover  them,  and  almost  impos- 
sible to  realize  at  once  their  significance.  Prevailing 
public  sentiment  in  heathen  lands  is  usually  the  child  of  generations, 
even  of  centuries,  of  unchanging  habits  of  thought  and  modes  of  living.2 
It  is  almost  invariably  rigid,  tenacious,  uncompromising,  and  so  en- 
trenched in  the  personal,  social,  and  religious  life  of  the  people  that  it 
generally  eludes  and  often  defies  any  attempt  either  to  dislodge  or 
change  it.    A  perverted  social  conscience  is  as  much  a  reality  in  non- 
Christian  lands  as  a  perverted  individual  conscience,  and  in  the  form 
of  public  opinion  it  is  a  factor  of  amazing  force  and  stability.     It  has 
back  of  it  the  dominant  spirit  of  national  or  tribal  history,  and  is  usually 
in  line  with  those  regnant  forces  which  have  always  swayed  the  fallen 
nature  of  man.     Christian  missions  are  among  the  very  few  influences 
which  can  seriously  or  permanently  disturb  it.     In  fact,  the  spiritual 
energi'is  of  Christianity  represent  almost  the  only  power  which  with  any 
transforming  results  has  ever  grappled  with  it  aggressively,  under  the 
inspiration  of  a  positive  purpose. 

Public  opinion  may  be  said  to  exist  under  varied  aspects.  It  is 
found  generally  in  the  form  of  a  sodden,  stagnant  incubus  upon  the 
social  consciousness,  saturated  with  evil  traditions,  characterized  by  an 
elusive,  mirage-like  expansiveness,  inaccessible  in  its  vastness,  yet  so 

1   TVl/rya/aw  Z:j<i«^^/«/,  February,  1896,  pp.  170-172. 

a  On  the  genesis  and  importance  of  public  opinion,  cf.  Giddings,  "  The  Prin- 
ciples of  Sociology,"  p.  147. 


iiin 


1 


I 
t 


THE  DAWN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA   IN  MISSIONS       'M 

•urely  and  in»iitently  preient  that  when  you  touch  it  you  teem  to  come 
at  one  and  the  ume  time  into  contact  with  the  whole  mau,  upon  which, 
however,  even  the  earnest,  aggressive  Christian  reformer  is  unable  ap- 
[.arently  to  make  the  slightest  impre«Mon.     If  he  seems  to  impinge  up..n 
it  at  any  one  point,  then  the  whole  immense  body  appears  to  rally  its 
weight  and  influence  against  him  at  that  very  point  of  contact.     Then 
there  is  the  proufi,  alert,  defiant,  and  determined  phase  of  it,  which 
meets  one  with  militant  energy  and  patriotic  spirit,  and  offers  a  stout 
and  unrelenting  resistance  to  every  attempt  at  modification.     There  ii 
the  sentimental  and  rhapsodical  phase,  the  intlifferent  and  contcmptuoui 
temper,  the  selfish,  the  conservative,  the  timid,  the  weak  and  nerveless 
species  of  it.     It  brings  to  its  aid  and  protection,  in  opposition  to  all 
efforts  to  change  it,  the  feeling  of  reverence  for  the  past,  so  strong  in 
Oriental  countries,  the  commanding  influence  of  custom,  the  force  of 
habit,  the  love  of  things  as  they  are,  and  have  been,  and  shall  be.     It 
is  a  marvelous  thing,  this  power  of  public  opinion  among  those  who 
have  never  been  accustomed  to  independence  of  thought  and  life,  and 
have  always  sat  beneath  the  shadow  of  pervasive  intellectual  and  moral 
traditions  and  persistent  social  trends  which  have  dominated  their  lives 
for  centuries.     Moreover,  in  lands  where  personal  despotism  has  full 
scope,  the  people  have  been  accustomed  to  take  refuge  in  the  stability 
and  protecting  conservatism  of  ruling  public  opinion  as  a  check  upon 
irresponsible  power,  and  this  has  added  much  to  its  controlling  position 
in  their  esteem  and  to  its  immovable  fi-edncss.     It  has  done  them  at 
times  a  service  similar  to  that  rendered  to  the  American  political  system 
by  a  federal  constitution,  in  giving  consistency  and  continuity  to  the 
form  of  government. 

It  is  hard  for  us  to  realize  what  a  hindrance  there  is  to  mission  prog- 
ress in  this  force  of  public  opinion,  and  what  difficulties  must  be  con- 
tended with  in  overcoming  it.     Christian  missions 
attack  it  in  detail  by  influencing  individual  convic-      Public  icntiment  • 
tion,  which, in  its  cumulative  volume, slowly  crystal-       '''""henilm  "*'" 
lizes  into  changed  public  sentiment.     Here,  then,  is 
a  sphere  of  activity  and  indirect  achievement  which  must  be  entered  and 
effectively  occupied  before  we  can  expect  any  permanent  social  transfor- 
mation. It  is  manifest  that  Christian  missions,  under  these  circumstances, 
as  a  condition  of  success,  must  necessarily  have  a  large  scope  of  influence 
and  a  wide  range  of  action,  and  that  the  accomplishment  of  any  effec- 
tive service  for  society  in  this  sphere  of  transformation  will  tax  fully  thei, 
best  energies  and  most  ample  resources.     There  is  need  of  a  powerful 
crusade  in  the  interest  of  social  progress  in  discrediting  and  overthrow- 


s 


=MN- 


i 


! 


*  i 


26  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

ing  ruling  ideas  which  can  never  be  dislodged,  and  hardly  even  disturbed, 
by  the  ordinary  factors  of  social  development.     Superstitions,  traditions, 
prejudices,  fears,  customs,  moods,  fancies,  tastes,  modes  of  thought,  and 
hereditary  tendencies,  backed  by  invincible  habit,  dominate  and  fashion 
social  life  to  an  extraordinary  degree  in  the  wide  realms  of  the  Onent. 
The  results  of  social  evolution,  as  they  have  crystallued  m  the  ruling 
ideas  and  practices  of  society,  must,  to  a  certain  extent,  be  undone  or 
dissolved,  or  at  least  so  modified  by  a  process  of  Christian  involution 
that  a  new  current  will  be  put  in  motion.     The  ideals  of  men  must  be 
changed.     We  should  not  forget  to  note  here  that  this  brings  a  distinct 
gain  to  the  world  in  having  the  devotion,  enthusiasm,  and  sincerity, 
which  are  in  many  instances  undoubted  characteristics  of  the  religious 
life  of  non-Christian  races,  directed  into  Christian  channels  of  aspu-a- 
tion,  while  the  practical  aim  is  so  rectified  as  to  bring  an  increment  of 
moral  energy  into  the  service  of  philanthropy  and  virtuous  living.    The 
whole  process  of  social  development  is  thus  born  again  to  the  possibility 
of  better  results ;  it  is  charged  as  by  an  electric  current  with  a  fresh  and 

aggressive  spirit.  ,        .       .  , 

As  human  history  needed  the  Incarnation  to  introduce  into  its  moral 
current  the  principle  of  a  new  life,  and  to  impart  to  its  worn-out  and 
devitalized  powers  the  new  spiritual  energy  which  Christ  brought  into 
the  world,  so  the  social  life  of  degenerate  races  needs  to  be  seized  from 
without  by  a  revivifying  moral  power.     Dr.  Robertson  Nicoll  speaks 
rointedly  and  truly  upon  this  urgent  theme  when  he  writes:     Chris- 
tianity utteriy  refuses  to  be  expressed  as  an  earthly  evoluUon.     It  claims 
to  be  a  heavenly  innovation.     Jesus  Christ  was  no  product  of  Jewish 
heredity  and  environment.     He  came  into  this  world  from  beyond  it. 
He  has  made  a  new  beginning  in  human  history,  because  He  was  a 
new  Person  on  the  stage  of  time,  whose  entrance  and  whose  exit  were 
alike  mysterious  and  appropriate  to  Himself.     Christianity  declares  that 
the  moral  order,  or  disorder,  of  the  worid  has  been  altered  once  for  all 
by  a  moral  impact  from  without-an  impact  which  Christians  believe 
to  have  involved,  naturally  enough,  physical  correspondences.     God 
hath  visited  and  redeemed  His  people.     The  Incarnation  and  the  Atone- 
ment are  our  human  names  for  divine  acts  in  which  God  Himself  inter- 
venes to  cure  the  evil  and  misery  of  mankind.     And  henceforth  all 
things  are  different,  since  that  visitation  and  redemption." »     Christian- 
ity, then,  and  Christianity  alone,  brings  the  power  of  recovery  to  heathen 
society.     The  way  in  which  it  does  this  is  often  at  first  very  mdirect 
and  obscure  in  its  workings,  but  after  a  time,  in  the  Ught  of  assured  re- 
1  Editori«l  in  The  British  IVetkly,  July  IS,  1897. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      27 

suits,  the  pathway  of  great  and  beneficent  changes  becomes  luminous 
with  the  glow  of  Christian  influences.  The  workings  of  Christian 
principles  and  the  force  of  Christian  character  can  be  plainly  seen.^ 

The  introduction  of  new  ideas  is  the  positive  side  of  the  creation 
of  a  new  public  opinion,  while  the  destruction  of  old  notions  is  the 
negative.     The  difference  is  that  the  former  is 
constructive,  while  the  latter  is  destructive.     The  some  niUngWeai  which 
one  points  to  the  establishment  and  confirmation     «"»»» »>•  dethroned, 
of  new  sentiments ;   the  other  to  the  discrediting 
and  discarding  of  old  traditions,  which  are  an  inrubus  to  be  removed 
in  order  to  give  play  to  new  ideals.     Let  us  endeavor  to  specialize 
some  of  these  ruling  ideas  which  must  be  deprived  of  their  controlling 

>  "  That  the  new  spirit  now  actively  at  work  in  India  is  the  spirit  of  Christ  and 
of  His  religion,  is  clearly  shown  by  a  study  of  the  moral  and  social  condition  of  the 
native  Christian  commnnity.  This  community  is  now  the  most  progressive  body  in 
the  country,  abundantly  proving  that  Christianity  is  a  vital  principle,  a  motive  power, 
a  transforming  force,  far  transcending  any  force  of  nature.  Each  step  in  its  progress 
has  been  the  natural  outcome  of  the  change  that  the  religion  of  Ch.-iit  accomplishes 
in  individuals.  The  native  Christian  coi-  nity  has  risen  from  a  low  degree  of 
numerical  and  social  importance  to  a  reco^.i.2ed  position  of  commanding  influence 
and  conscious  strength.  This  progress  is  largely  due  to  the  immunity  from  the 
social  drawbacks  under  which  the  Hindu  community  labours.  They  have  ceased 
to  be  restrained  by  tyrannical  social  customs  and  caste  prejudices.  And  it  is  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  that  has  made  them  free.  They  are  also  better  educated  in  youth, 
better  treated  in  sickness,  more  promptly  aided  in  times  of  scarcity,  more  continu- 
ously disciplined  throughout  life,  than  any  other  class  in  the  country.  The  absence 
among  them  of  that  great  social  evil,  the  early  marriage  system,  and  the  increasing 
number  of  intelligent  wives  and  mothers,  largely  account  for  their  present  position. 
The  simplicity  of  their  religious  and  social  life  is  one  of  their  greatest  privileges. 
Unlike  Hindus,  whose  religious  existence  is  one  series  of  expensive  ceremonies 
from  birth  to  death,  they  have  no  burdensome  rites  to  perform,  and  learn  to  practise 
economy  in  weddings  and  funerals.  Hinduism  drains  the  purse,  and  exhausts  the 
time  and  strength,  of  its  votaries.  The  moment  a  Hindu  becomes  a  Christian  he 
leaves  the  land  of  slavery  and  breathes  the  air  of  liberty.  In  moral  tone  and  purity, 
■nd  in  many  a  social  improvement,  the  native  Christians  take  the  lead.  One  has 
only  to  compare  Christian  with  Hindu  homes  to  be  assured  that  it  is  the  leaven 
of  Christ's  religion  that  can  alone  quicken  the  inert  mass  of  Hindu  society.  In- 
dustry has  been  developed  among  them ;  they  are  beginning  to  learn  the  dignity  of 
labour ;  and  the  industrial  schools  started  by  missions  have  proved  a  great  boon  to 
the  community,  many  of  whom  have  taken  to  honest  trades,  and  are  doing  remark- 
ably welU  The  moral,  social,  and  intellectual  progress  of  this  community  is  the 
natural  outcome  of  the  life-giving  power  of  Christianity.  Here  we  have  abundant 
evidence  that  the  Christian  faith  is  the  most  powerful  lever  for  the  uplifting  of  a 
people.  Self-consciousness  aiid  independence  are  true  indications  of  power ;  and 
this  community  is  becoming  conscious  of  its  strength."— Rev.  T.  E.  Slater  (L.  M.  S.), 
Bangalore,  South  India. 


If'" 


TT 


' 


1   :  f 


28  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

influence  in  the  interests  of  higher  social  progress.     Among  them  naay 
be  named  the  provincial  self-exaltation,  usually  associated  with  a  with- 
ering  estimate  of  the  foreigner,  prevailing  so  conspicuously  in  China, 
and  of  which  other  nations  are  able  to  present  no  insignificant  illustra- 
tion.    The  provincial  conceit  of  Japan  pales  only  in  the  presence  of 
that  of  China.    Japan,  however,  does  not  allow  national  pride  to  blind 
her  to  the  excellencies  and  advantages  of  Christian  civilization,  a  large 
share  of  which,  with  singular  wisdom,  she  is  ready  to  adopt,  so  far  as 
there  is  no  conflict  with  her  exclusive  predilections.     China  has  always 
stood  in  the  twilight  of  her  own  enormous  shadow,  rejecting  everything 
that  was  not  indigenous.     Her  chauvinism  is  colossal.     Hatred  and 
distrust  of  everything  outside  of  China  are  ruling  ideas  of  the  "  Middle 
Kingdom."   A  Chinese  mandarin  cannot  even  enter  a  foreigner's  house 
without  incurring  suspicion  and  losing  a  measure  of  his  official  and  so- 
cial standing.     The  extent  to  which  this  contempt  of  outside  nations 
will  carry  the  Chinese  intellect  is  revealed  in  an  extract  from  a  placard 
attached  to  the  gates  of  the  Examination  Hall  at  Singan,  at  a  time 
when  thousands  of  students  were  gathered  for  literary  examinations. 
It  is  not  by  any  means  an  exaggerated  specimen  of  its  kind.^     It  is  the 
testimony  of  The  Indian  Messenger,  a  native  periodical  published  in  the 
interests  of  Brahmoism,  that  "  there  is  probably  at  the  present  moment 
no  more  conceited  race  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  with  less  cause  for 
self-glorification,  if  we  take  into  account  only  their  present  achievement 
and  condition,  than  the  people  of  India."     A  recent  correspondent  of 
the  London  Times,  writing  from  Madagascar,  speaks  of  the  "  unlimited 
conceit "  which  forms  one  of  the  principal  traits  of  the  Hova  character. 
Instances  need  not  be  multiplied.      It   is  one  of  the  functions  of 
missions  to  let  in  the  light  of  comparison  and  teach  the  saving  grace 
of  humility. 

Many  absurd  errors  in  scientific  knowledge  and  practical  economy 
are  prevalent.  Antiquated  and  childish  restrictions  upon  travel  abroad 
are  still  enforced  in  India.  There  is  everywhere  a  reluctance  to  sub- 
stitute modem  facilities  for  old  and  cumbersome  methods.  Violent 
race  prejudices  separate  non-Christian  communities  into  hostile  camps, 
hinder  that  free  intermingling  of  humanity  which  disarms  suspicion,  and 

»  Its  legend  runs  thus:  "These  few  and  insignificant  nations  that  be  on  the 
outskirts  of  this  illustrious  land  are  thorny  and  wild  and  all  barbarian.  Before  the 
European  countries  existed  China  was  sage-educated.  The  teaching  of  Confucius 
at  last  reached  unto  their  barbarity,  and  reaching  them  reformed  them.  Yet  an 
Englishman  ventures  to  come  out  and  instruct  us!  Why,  we  are  his  teachers! 
(Signed)  Master  of  the  Club  of  Orthodoxy. "-Quoted  in  The  Baftitt  Missionary 
Mdgdiint,  January,  1S9S,  p.  27. 


ll 


Eb     - 


S.S 


n  I 


Ec 


Hi. 


;ili 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      29 

retard  that  fusion  of  races  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  progress  of 
Christian  civih'zation.  A  false  and  narrow  patriotism  is  apt  to  exalt 
and  cling  to  features  of  national  life  which  a  larger  and  wiser  knowledge 
would  reject.  Caste  exclusiveness  rules  with  despotic  sway  in  Indian 
society,  and  in  milder  form  among  many  other  non-Christian  peoples. 
Then  there  are  degrading  superstitions,  demoralizing  fears,  misguided 
convictions,  criminal  abominations,  defective  standards  of  honor  and 
integrity,  heartless  unconsciousness  of  responsibility  and  duty  where  the 
interests  of  others  are  concerned,  heedless  cruelty,  filthiness  of  the 
imagination,  and  a  lax  estimate  of  the  enormity  of  crime.  There  is  a 
low  opinion  of  the  status  of  women  and  children,  and  no  proper  ap- 
preciation of  the  sacredness  of  either  their  persons  or  their  rights.  One 
of  the  best  gifts  of  missions  to  heathen  society  is  the  educated  woman. 
To  instruct  a  girl  was  a  scandal,  until  missions  established  a  better  sen- 
timent, and  now  it  is  a  thing  to  be  desired.  There  are  loose  views  of  the 
marriage  relation,  and  an  ever-present  readiness  to  judge  leniently,  if 
not  condone  altogether,  the  vices  which  an  Oriental  loves.  In  fact, 
there  are  few  ruling  ideas  in  the  non-Christian  world  that  are  not  a 
barrier  to  social  progress,  and  there  is  no  available  and  really  effective 
instrument  for  dislodging  and  dispelling  them,  other  than  the  Christian- 
ity which  it  is  the  transcendent  aim  of  Christian  missions  to  teach.i 

»  ".Nothing  can  be  more  certain,"  writes  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Kellogg,  D.  D. 
(P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Landaur,  India,  "  than  that  such  movements  here  and  there 
are  directly  due  to  the  effect  of  Christianity  as  a  visible  power  in  provoking  to  good 
works." 

Dr.  Kellogg  has  kindly  forwarded  the  following  items  culled  from  Indian  papers : 
"  In  a  recent  number  of  the  Madras  journal  entitled  Progress  an  account  is  given  of 
the  subjects  discussed  at  the  Eighth  Annual  Conference  of  the  Kayastha  community 
of  Hindus,  known  as  the  '  writer '  caste.  They  were  as  follows :  (i)  curtailment  of 
marriage  expenses ;  (2)  prohibition  of  early  (child)  marriages ;  (3)  sending  youths 
to  England  for  education ;  (4)  technical  education ;  (5)  creation  of  a  national  fund 
for  the  maintetiance  of  widows  and  orphans,  and  education  of  the  children  of  the 
poorer  members  of  the  Kayastha  community;  (6)  female  education;  (7)  prohibition 
of  members  of  the  community  from  joining  any  associations,  political  or  religious, 
which  tend  to  engender  ill  feeling  between  the  races. 

"  The  Cyan  Patrika  gives  the  following  items,  among  others,  of  the  programme 
of  the  Hindu  Social  Conference  held  at  Madras,  December  30,  1894:  (i)  the  de- 
sirability of  regulating  the  marriage  age,  that  is,  not  allowing  men  over  fifty  to 
marry  girls  under  fourteen ;  (2)  question  of  facilitating  registration  of  Social  Reform 
Associations ;  (3)  the  advisability  of  discouraging  nautch  parties  at  religious  festivals 
and  social  gatherings ;  (4)  abolition  of  imprisonment  of  women  in  execution  of  de- 
crees for  restitution  of  conjugal  rights ;  (5)  removal  of  all  social  hindrances  in  the 
way  of  the  reception  of  foreign  travelled  men,  and  also  of  men  marrying  widows ; 
(6)  the  necessity  of  a  more  active  cooperation  with  the  Temperance  Movement, 


I' 


I, 


9 1 


u 


. 

t    i 

;'  i 

i  1 

j  i     If 

■  f 

*'    1 

'           -■ 

30  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

There  is  need  everywhere  in  non-Christian  society  of  a  new  public 
opinion  as  to  the  value  of  the  individual  as  a  factor  in  social  progress 
^  and  in  national  greatness.    There  must  be  a  new 

recognition  of  his  rights,  an  appreciation  of  the 
•'"Voru:.'::r°"'raSess  of  his  Uberty.  and  of  the  import  and 
value  of  his  personal   relations    and   character. 
There  must  be  a  new  public  sentiment  as  to  the  value  of  purity,  truth- 
fulness, righteousness,  honor,  fidelity  to  public  trust,  and  responsib.hty 
for  the  public  weal.    There  must  be  a  new  estimate  of  the  moral 
obligations  implied  in  public  ser^•ice.  of  the  requirements  of  lo>;alty  in 
the  sphere  of  public  duty,  and  a  discovery  of  the  status  of  law,  justice, 
and  common  honesty  in  public  life.    There  must  be  a  new  judgment  as 
to  the  standards  of  integritv,  honesty,  and  trustworthiness  in  business  re- 
lations.  Deceit,  fraud,  and  unscrupulous  misrepresentation,  now  to  sucn 
an  extent  dominant  in  all  the  commercial  intercourse  of  heathen  society, 
must  be  dishonored  and  discredited.     There  must  be  a  new  apprecia- 
tion of  the  nobility  of  virtue  and  a  deeper  perception  of  the  loathsome- 
ness of  vice     The  old  degenerate  code  must  give  place  to  the  Christian 
ideal  of  the  sanctities  of  the  home,  the  sacredness  of  family  life,  and  the 
imperative  obligations  of  sexual  purity.     There  must  be  a  higher  recog- 
nition of  the  brotherhood  of  humanity,  and  all  that  it  implies  in  the 
sphere  of  mutual  helpfulness  and  philanthropic  service.     There  must 
be  a  clearer  apprehension  of  the  dignity  of  law  and  the  superiority  of 
principle  over  personal  favoritism  or  brute  force  in  the  exercise  of  exec- 
utive authority  or  the  administration  of  public  trust.     There  must  be 
new  views  of  the  dignity  of  labor,  the  shame  of  idleness  as  a  badge  of 
aristocracy,  and  the  absurdity  of  regarding  fancied  nobility  of  lineage 
as  a  plea  for  sloth.    There  must  be  a  new  estimate  of  man  as  man, 
such  as  will  shatter  false  standards  and  sunder  the  bonds  of  caste. 

There  is  a  whole  circle  of  twisted,  gnaried.  stunted,  grotesque, 
vitiated,  demoralized,  and  iniquitous  aspects  of  public  opinion  in 
foreign  lands,  which  must  be  slowly  changed,  purified,  sweetened,  and 
brought  into  harmony  with  Christian  teaching.  Here  is  an  achieve- 
ment, at  once  fundamental  and  vital  in  the  interests  of  social  trans- 
formation, which  Christian  missions  alone  are  capable  of  accomplishing 
with  any  touch  of  mastery,  or  with  any  permanent  efficiency  and 
thoroughness. 

not  only  as  regards  spirits,  but  also  as  regards  opium,  bhang,  and  other  drugs; 
(7)  the  desirability  of  promoting  interdining  and  intermarriage  between  the  members 
of  recognUed  subdivisions  of  the  local  caste ;  (8)  the  desirability  of  discouraging  the 
dUfigurement  of  widows,  in  accordance  with  the  prevailing  customs." 


THE  DAWN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      31 

The  process  by  which  this  change  is  accomplished  is  difficult  to  dis- 
cover or  illustrate,  but  the  results  arc  apparent  to  any  thoughtful 
()l)server.     Slowly  but  surely  the  whole  public 
opinion  of  China  is  changing  in  its  estimate  of  the  Public  opinion  in  chin* 

'  o     o  g„ j  India  yicldlni  to 

outside  world  and  its  respect  for  Western  science,  chriitun  influence, 
literature,  art,  culture,  and  even  religion.  It  is  no 
slight  achievement  to  convince  a  Chinese  that  any  change  in  his  con- 
servative outlook  or  familiar  environment  will  be  an  advantage ;  yet 
that  conviction  is  now  lodged  in  many  minds,  and  the  spirit  of  progress 
is  beginning  to  breathe  upon  the  dry  bones  of  China.  This  is  no  doubt 
due  to  a  variety  of  causes,  but  chief  among  them  must  be  named  the 
influence  of  Christian  missions  in  stimulating  thought,  awakening  aspira- 
tion, and  enlarging  the  outlook  of  multitudes  in  the  empire.  The 
Hindu  point  of  view  is  also  changing— quietly,  almost  imperceptibly, 
new  philosophical  principles  are  dominating  Hindu  thought.  Christian 
ideas  are  being  absorbed,  appropriated,  and  even  asserted,  in  some  in- 
stances with  only  a  faint  recognition  of  their  origin.  Reform  move- 
ments are  gathering  headway  in  India ;  old  scandals  are  losing  caste ; 
and  things  that  a  generation  or  so  ago  were  openly  admired  and 
practised  are  now  decidedly— in  some  instances  pronouncedly— under 
a  ban.  Some  of  the  most  brilliant  appeals  and  thoroughgoing  argu- 
ments in  behalf  of  reform  movements  are  advanced  at  the  present  day 
by  Hindus  themselves.  The  recent  inaugural  address  of  R.  G.  Bhan- 
darkar,  Ph.D.,  CLE.,  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  Bombay  University,  in 
taking  the  Chair  as  President  of  the  Poona  Social  Conference,  is  a 
strong,  dignified,  and  outspoken  plea  for  radical  and  monumental 
changes  in  the  social  system  of  Hinduism.^ 

1  A  few  paragraphs  from  the  address  will  reveal  its  tenor  and  spirit : 
"  Abont  sixty  years  ago,  none  among  us  had  any  idea  of  the  reform  of  onr 
society,  and  a  conference  such  as  this  was  out  of  the  question.  But  since  that 
time  we  have  come  in  closer  contact  with  Western  civilization,  chiefly  through  the 
means  of  English  education ;  and  that  has  led  ns  to  take  interest  in  the  concerns  of 
Indian  society  in  general,  and  consider  its  good  to  be  our  good,  and  has  evoked  in 
us  feelings  of  justice  and  compassion  for  the  various  classes  that  compose  our 
society.  .  .  .  And,  first,  a  good  many  of  the  proposals  have  reference  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  female  portion  of  our  society.  Gentlemen,  one  half  of  the  intellectual, 
moral,  and  spiritual  resources  of  our  country  is  being  wasted.  If  our  women  were 
educated  as  they  ought  to  be,  they  would  be  a  powerful  instrument  for  advancing 
the  general  condition  of  our  country.  .  .  .  The  other  points  concerning  our 
daughters  and  our  sisters  have  reference  to  the  unjust  and  cruel  sufferings  to  which 
our  present  social  usages  subject  them,  and  which  no  man  in  whom  the  sentiments 
of  justice  and  compassion  are  developed  can  find  it  in  his  heart  to  tolerate  even  for 
a  moment.    The  misery  of  our  widows  has  been  the  subject  of  frequent  remark. 


iipi-iimuipl"¥iriiujil 


1  I 


32 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


-!  I 


Dr.  Bhandarkar  is  a  Maratha  Brahman,  and  is  spoken  of  as  "a 
profound  scholar,  a  great  antiquarian,  and  an  earnest  philanthropist 
and  reformer."  He  is  not  alone  in  his  views  as  to  the  need  of  exten- 
sive reforms  in  Indian  society,  and  his  advocacy  of  them  is  indicative 
of  an  eventful  and  aggressive  change  in  the  public  opinion  of  the  coun- 
try, which  is  growing  stronger  and  more  militant  every  year.  What  is 
true  of  India  to  a  marked  degree  is  true,  in  a  measure,  of  the  entire 
Orient.  There  is  throughout  the  East  a  growing  restlessness  and  dis- 
content with  present  social  conditions,  and  a  new  spirit,  progressive, 
alert,  and  aspiring,  is  asserting  itself,  indicative  of  far-reaching  changes 
which  are  coming  in  public  sentiment.  To  what  extent  these  changes 
will  be  due  to  the  influence  of  Christian  missions  may  be  open  to  dis- 
cussion with  some,  but  it  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  among  experienced, 
competent,  and  candid  observers  on  the  spot  there  is  a  readiness  to 
recognize  the  work  of  missions  as  the  most  pervasive  and  decisive 
agency  in  the  introduction  of  new  ideas  and  in  the  quickening  of  new 
aspirations  in  Eastern  society.  The  opinion  of  missionaries  in  all  lands, 
as  we  shall  see,  is  practically  unanimous  in  regarding  the  awakening  of 
non-Christian  peoples  to  a  better  and  nobler  social  destiny  as  due  to  the 
vitalizing  touch  of  Christianity. 

We  would  not  say  that  it  is  the  paramount  duty  or  the  primary  ser- 
vice of  a  missionary  to  take  up  the  role  of  a  social  reformer.  He  must 
Th.chri.tianmi..ion-  be  very  wisc  and  guarded  in  this  respect.  His 
•ryihouidbewiie  and  first  business  is  with  the  Gospel  as  the  message  of 
.tm:drt;U"'di".ociM  God  to  man,  and  with  the  Bible  as  a  book  of  re- 
reform*.  ligious  inspiration  and  divine  instruction,  although 

he  may  do  much  by  his  personal  influence  and  advice  to  encourage 

...  I  will  only  make  a  general  observation,  that  that  society  which  allow*  men  to 
marry  any  number  of  times,  even  up  to  the  age  of  sixty,  while  it  sternly  forbids 
even  girls  of  seven  or  eight  to  have  another  husband  after  one  is  dead,  which  gives 
liberty  to  a  man  of  fifty  or  sixty  to  marry  a  girl  of  eleven  or  twelve,  which  has  no 
word  of  condemnation  for  the  man  who  marries  another  wife  within  fif:een  days 
after  the  death  of  the  first,  is  a  society  which  sets  very  little  value  upon  the  life  of 
a  female  human  being,  and  places  woman  on  the  same  level  with  cattle,  and  is  thus 
in  an  unsound  condition,  disqualifying  it  for  a  successful  competition  with  societies 

having  a  more  healthy  constitution I  will  next  call  your  attention  to  those  points 

in  the  resolution  which  concern  the  institution  of  castes.  .  .  .  And,  generally,  allow 
me  to  observe  that  the  rigid  system  of  caste  v.aich  prevails  among  us  will  ever  act 
as  a  heavy  drag  in  our  race  towards  a  brighter  future.  .  .  .  Then,  there  are  other 
points  in  the  resolution,  the  aim  of  which  is  to  remove  positive  obstacle*  to  our 
healthy  development.  The  marriage  of  boys  and  girls  is  of  this  nature.  .  .  •  The 
prohibition  of  travel  in  foreign  countries  I  would  put  under  the  same  head,  »ince  it 
acts  as  an  obstacle  to  the  free  expansion  of  our  energies  and  capacities.  "—TX* 
Statesman,  January  7,  1896;  quoted  also  in  The  Delhi  Afission  Nm/s.  July,  1896. 


yt 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      33 

needed  reforms.  The  religion  which  he  teaches  will  eventually  purify 
the  minds  of  men,  rectify  their  views,  and  reform  their  ways.  He 
should  be  especially  cautious  about  interfering  with  social  customs 
and  using  the  Gospel  in  the  advocacy  of  a  new  order  of  things  where 
there  is  no  imperative  call  for  change.  He  is  a  teacher  of  biblical  truth, 
and  an  advocate  and  exemplar  of  Christian  morality.  If  he  is  faithful 
in  this  sphere,  he  will  in  the  end  do  a  large  and  beneficent  work  through- 
out the  entire  realm  of  social  welfare.*  It  may  be  asked  here,  Are  we 
not  giving  too  wide  and  indefinite  a  scope  to  Christianity  as  a  trans- 
forming and  rectifying  force  in  social  development?  It  is  a  fair  ques- 
tion, but  we  should  pause  before  we  answer  it  to  consider  whether  we 
have  fully  realized  the  penetrating  and  pervasive  power  of  Christianity 
in  human  society,  the  length  and  breadth  as  well  as  the  height  and 
depth  of  its  influence  over  both  the  individual  and  the  social  man. 
Can  we  hope  for,  or  need  we  desire,  anything  more  directly  purifying, 
ennobling,  and  thoroughly  renovating  to  human  society,  in  all  its  com- 
plex  requirements  and  its  desperate  shortcomings,  than  that  it  should 
be  wholly  Christianized? 


Ill 


A  third  function  of  missions  of  fundamental  import  and  touching 
the  deep  springs  of  social  progress  is  the  establishment  and  promotion 
of  education.     This  is  one  of  the  noblest  sociologi- 
cal aspects  of  missionary  effort.     It  illumines,  vivi-     «u'r  o?tTu«uon  «'' 
fies,  and  inspires  the  intellectual  nature  of  man,  and        ■  •»■•'» »'  •<»='■> 
brings  it  into  the  arena  of  social  struggle  equipped  p'o^*"- 

for  service.  Before  the  modem  era  of  missionary  educational  facilities, 
lamentable  ignorance  prevailed  through  all  the  non-Christian  world. 
Half  a  century  or  more  ago  whole  communities,  tribes,  and  even  nations 
were  under  the  incubus  of  its  depressing  and  paralyzing  bondage. 
Even  the  deceitful  semblance  of  true  knowledge,  derived  from  their 

1  "  Their  cnstoms  and  habits  are  so  ancient  and  sacred  to  them  that  they  will 
not  abandon  them  simply  because  they  are  told  to  do  so.  Appeals  to  their  reason 
or  moral  sense  are  fruitless,  for  in  the  majority  of  cases  these  people  are  unreason- 
able,  and  their  moral  sense  needs  first  to  be  developed  in  order  to  be  made  produc- 
tive of  good.  Neither  has  the  missionary  time  to  engage  in  secular  matters,  nor 
money  enough  to  supply  the  demands  that  would  be  made  upon  him.  Only  he 
whom  the  Son  of  God  makes  free  is  free  indeed.  After  Christ  has  entered  the 
hearts  of  these  people  and  they  are  made  obedient  to  the  Spirit,  they  will  have 
faith  m  the  missionary's  message  and  the  superiority  of  his  social,  moral,  and  reli- 
gious ideas."-Rev.  J.  Heinrichs  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  Vinukonda,  India. 


S4 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


I 


(     f, 


%%^ 


ancient  but  effete  classical  culture,  was,  in  the  case  o(  the  more  ad- 
vanced nations  of  the  Orient,  not  the  possession  of  the  people,  but  the 
monopoly  of  a  literary  caste.  The  instruction  of  the  young,  except  in 
very  rare  instances,  ^as  neglected.  Pitiable  ignorance  reigned  every- 
where, and  the  masses  of  society  were  the  victims  of  mental  blindneu 
and  vacuity  to  an  extent  which  is  almost  incredible  in  our  enlightened 
environment. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  dwell  at  any  length  upon  this  aspect  of 
our  theme.  It  will  be  more  gratifying  to  point  out  what  a  hopeful 
change  has  been  brought  about.  The  present  educational  plant  of 
foreign  missions  throughout  the  world  is  a  marvelous  achievement,  con- 
sidered not  only  in  itself,  but  as  representing  literally  a  free  gift  of 
Christianity  to  the  nations.  Its  import  as  a  stimulus  to  social  prog- 
ress is  self-evident.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  mission  schools  and 
colleges  have  awakened  everywhere  a  new  passion  for  education.  "  The 
entrance  of  Thy  Word  giveth  light "  is  true  of  the  mind  as  well  as  of 
the  heart.  "  It  is  a  common  thing  in  China,"  writes  a  missionary,  "  for 
illiterate  men  and  women,  often  far  advanced  in  life,  as  soon  as  they 
embrace  Christianity,  to  want  to  learn  to  read."  '  A  desire  for  know- 
ledge, especially  for  acquaintance  with  the  facts  of  science,  seems  to 
spring  up  in  connection  with  the  quickened  Ufe  of  Christian  faith. 
"  How  this  Christianity  does  open  the  eyes  of  the  mind!  "  was  the  ex- 
clamation of  a  wondering  Chinese,  after  a  talk  with  a  missionary  about 
the  elementary  facts  of  science.  A  new  wonderland  of  mental  vision 
and  intellectual  attaimnent  has  been  revealed  to  the  young  who  are 
thronging  educational  institutions  in  every  foreign  field.  Vast  areas  of 
the  mental  life  of  the  world  are  thus  being  reclaimed  by  culture,  and 
prepared  through  missionary  instrumentalities  to  be  productive  of  a  har- 
vest of  social  benefits  to  man.2    Not  only  is  impulse  given  to  the  mental 

»  Rev.  William  P.  Chalfant  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Ichowfu,  China. 

*  The  following  statistics,  which  have  been  gathered  with  much  care,  will  indi- 
cate in  a  measure  the  extent  and  significance  of  the  educational  contribution  of  mis- 
sions to  social  progress.  These  figures  are  good  so  far  as  they  go,  and,  were  it 
possible  to  secure  absolute  completeness,  it  is  likely  that  in  some  items  they  might 
be  increased  from  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent.,  when  all  returns  were  obtained  and  tab- 
ulated. There  are  112  universities  and  colleges,  including  preparatory  departments, 
in  foreign  mission  fields,  attended  by  28,523  students ;  there  are  546  theological  and 
training  schools,  with  12,178  students;  there  are  1087  boarding-  and  high-schools, 
with  54,376 pupils;  17,773  day-schools,  with  780,448  pupils;  324  industrial  schools 
and  departments,  with  7390  pupils:  making  a  total  of  19,842— in  all  probability 
it  will  be  found  to  be  nearly  22,000— institutions  and  schools,  with  a  total,  so  far  m 
present  returns  indicate,  of  882,915  pupils.  The  number  is  probably  not  far  from 
a  full  million. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  AV  MfSS/OATS       36 

powen,  but  their  development  is  guided  with  a  v'>w  to  usefulnesi. 
The  traininjif  imparted  is  broad  in  its  scope  and  thorough  in  its  drill, 
and  is  mingled  with  elevating  Christian  instruction.  The  elementary, 
academic,  nor  lal,  professional,  and  industrial  departments  are  pervaded 
by  the  moral  impress  and  the  Christian  tone  of  the  Gospel.'  The  gain 
is  far  more  notable  than  is  realized  by  the  great  majority  of  the  sup- 
porters of  missions,  and  in  such  advanced  fields  as  India  and  Japan  has 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  scientific,  philosophical,  and  educational 
societies,  the  character  and  scope  of  which  indicate  i  generous  fruitage 
of  culture,  and  promise  noble  contributions  to  the  sum  of  human 
learning.  The  foundations  of  an  intellectual  development,  in  touch 
with  the  treasures  of  modem  knowledge,  have  been  laid  among  recep- 
tive peoples  whose  capabilities  will  perhaps  prove  a  surprise  to  the 
world,  and  result  in  widespread  advantage  'o  the  race. 


IV 


Next  to  the  educational,  we  must  rank  the  literary  contribution  of 
missions  as  a  basal  factor  in  the  social  progress  of  non-Christian  peoples. 
'I'his  varies  in  its  character  and  range,  from  the 
primer  and  text-book  of  the  elementary  school  to     »*'»'»''"»  literature  •■ 
goodly  volumes  dealing  with  the  highest  themes         development.' 
of  modem  culture.     The  extent  and  varied  char- 
acter of  the  literature  given  by  missionaries  to  the  awakened  minds 
and  hearts  of  multitudes,  represent  the  ripest  attainments  oi  modem 
intellectual  life.     A  chief  place,  very  property,  has  been  assigned  to 
religious  literature,  including  theological  treatises,  biblical  expositions, 
and  manuals  of  doctrine  and  apologetics.     The  scope  of  these  literary 
activities,  however,  goes  far  beyond  this,  and  covers  not  only  books 
of  a  scientific,  philosophical,  technical,  and  economic  character,  but  a 
wide  range  of  works  in  history,  ethics,  education,  literature,  and  gives 
information  of  practical  value,  entertaining  as  well  as  instructive. 

The  crown  and  glory  of  this  is  the  Bible,  around  which  all  mission 
literature  is  grouped,  and  to  which,  at  least  in  the  consecrated  aims  of 
its  authors,  it  is  intended  to  bear  a  definite  relation.  In  this  service  on 
behalf  of  a  sanctified  literature,  the  great  Bible  and  Tract  Societies  of 
America  and  Britain  have  borne  a  noble  and  conspicuous  part.  The 
department  of  the  arts,  including  esthetics,  has  not  been  overiooked ; 

»  Cf.  Mott,  ••  Strategic  Points  in  the  World's  Conquest,"  chaps,  iv.-x.,  xiii.-xvii. 


i 


i  I 


I 


36  CH/ilSTIAN  Af/SS/OXS  AND  SOCIAL  rXOGRESS 

religious  poetry,  especially  Gospel  hymns,  has  been  everywhere  intro- 
duced.  Beautiful  and  inspiring  words  have  been  set  to  music,  partly 
native  and  partly  borrowed  from  the  sacred  harmonies  of  Christendom, 
so  that  the  religious  services,  as  well  as  the  homes  and  hearts  of  Chris- 
tians, are  cheered  and  brightened  with  the  delights  of  sacred  song." 

Religious  journals  and  periodicals  are  edited  and  published  by 
missionaries,  and  through  the  stimulus  of  this  example  the  journalistic 
enterprise  of  educated  natives  has  inaugurated  an  extensive  issue  of 
newspaper  and  periodical  literature,  which  is  a  growing  power  in  the 
education  of  society  and  the  shaping  of  public  opinion.  The  entire 
or  partial  versions  of  the  Bible  prepared,  chiefly  during  the  present 
century,  by  missionaries,  or  by  others  for  missionary  purposes,  exceed 
four  hundred.  This  does  not  include  revised  versions;  each  one 
represents  a  distinct  language  or  dialect.  The  new  versions,  that  is, 
those  still  in  the  manuscript  stage  and  at  present  in  course  of  prep- 
aration, are  20.  The  publishing-houses  and  mission  presses  num- 
ber, so  far  as  has  been  ascertained,  at  least  148.  The  list  of  annual 
publications,  as  nearly  as  can  be  traced,  is  6,926,163 ;  the  number  of 
pages  printed  each  year  is  about  250,000,000.  There  are  in  addition 
34  tract  societies  on  mission  fields,  printing  annually,  according  to  re- 
cent reports,  8,613,568  volumes  and  tracts,  representing  an  estimated 
number  of  pages  not  far  from  200,000,000.  There  are  published  in 
connection  with  the  various  missions  4>6  separate  issues  of  periodical 

literature. 

Missionaries  have  reduced  many  spoken  languages  to  writine,  and 
made  them  available  for  literary  uses.  A  careful  estimate  reveals  the 
fact  that  not  less  than  1 20  languages  have  thus  been  made  the  me- 
dium of  literary  production  through  the  stimulating  agency  of  mis- 
sions. They  have  introduced  the  art  of  writing,  and  provided  reading 
primers,  elementary  grammars,  educational  text-books,  philological 
treatises,  and  various  grades  of  dictionaries,  as  intellectual  tools  to 
peoples  who  have  thus  been  ushered  into  a  new  literary  epoch.'     It  is 

1  See  "  The  Hymnody  of  Foreign  Missions,"  by  the  Rev.  James  H.  Ross,  in 
The  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  April,  1894. 

»  Commissioner  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  in  a  recent  report,  has  referred  to  the 
literary  services  of  missionaries  in  the  British  Central  Africa  Protectorate  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  High  praise  must  be  given  to  the  missionaries  of  British  Central  Africa  for 
the  extent  and  value  of  their  linguistic  studies.  The  Universities'  Mission  has 
printed  several  works  dealing  with  the  form  of  Chinyanja  which  is  spoken  on  the 
east  coast  of  Nyassa.  In  the  Church  of  Scotland  Mission  the  Rev.  Alexander 
Heiherwick  has  published  a  handbook  of  the  Yao  language,  and  the  Rev.  D.  C. 


i      ii: 


K,  'yffl  if 


•1  i 


i  k 


!i 


I 


THE  DA  WN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      37 


safe  to  say  that  an  era  of  national  litera  i  re  has  been  in  many  instances 
inaugurated  by  missions,  and  in  cases  where  such  a  literature  already 
existed  it  has  been  profoundly  stimulated  and  guided  into  enlarged  and 
fructifying  channels.  The  morning  drum-beat  of  the  British  Army  is 
said  to  accompany  the  sunrise ;  but  even  in  more  literal  harmony  with 
fact,  may  it  not  be  said  that  the  throb  of  the  mission  presses— signal 
of  a  transcendent  dawn— pulsates  round  the  world  with  the  music  of 
their  unceasing  activity?  In  Central  Africa,  as  long  ago  as  1878,  a 
printing-press  was  established  at  Blantyre,  in  connection  with  the 
Church  of  Scotland  Mission.  The  importance  of  all  this  intellectual 
awakening  cannot,  be  exaggerated.     The  advantage  of  having  the  new 

Scott  has  compiled  a  Jrafianja  dictionary,  which  is  a  veritable  mine  of  information 
as  to  native  habits  and  customs.  In  a  way,  the  Livingstonia  Mission  stands  first 
as  regards  the  value  of  its  contributions  to  our  knowledge  of  African  languages. 
Dr.  Laws  has  published  at  different  times  vocabularies  of  the  Chinyanja,  Chikunda, 
and  Chitonga  tongues.  Dr.  Elmslie  has  written  some  really  valuable  works  on  the 
Tumbuka  language,  and  on  the  dialect  of  Zulu  spoken  by  the  Angoni,  besides 
numerous  other  contributions  to  African  philology.  The  late  Dr.  Henry,  of  the 
same  mission,  has  published  the  best  grammar  extant  of  Chinyanja,  and  the  late 
Mr.  Bain  commenced  a  vocabulary  of  the  language  spoken  at  the  north  end  of  Lake 
N'yassa.  The  Rev.  David  Jones,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  has  published 
vocabularies  of  the  Kimambwe,  and  has  compiled  (I  do  not  think  it  is  published 
other  than  privately)  a  most  valuable  study  of  the  interesting  Kiguha  language, 
spoken  on  the  west  coast  of  Lake  Tanganyika."— Blue  Book,  "Africa,  No.  6 
(•894)."  P- 36- 

A  further  statement  regarding  the  literary  and  other  services  of  missionaries  will 
be  found  in  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston's  recent  book,  "  British  Central  Africa,"  pp.  205, 
206.  He  there  remarks :  "  Huge  is  the  debt  which  philologists  owe  to  the  labours 
of  British  missionaries  in  Africa!  By  evangelists  of  our  own  nationality  nearly 
two  hundred  African  languages  and  dialects  have  been  illustrated  by  grammars, 
dictionaries,  vocabularies,  and  translations  of  the  Bible.  Many  of  these  tongues 
were  on  the  point  of  extinction,  and  have  since  become  extinct,  and  we  owe  our 
knowledge  of  them  solely  to  the  missionaries'  intervention.  Zoology,  botany,  and 
anthropology,  and  most  of  the  other  branches  of  scientific  investigation,  have  been 
enriched  by  the  researches  of  missionaries,  who  have  enjoyed  unequalled  opportu- 
nities of  collecting  in  new  districts ;  while  commerce  and  colonisation  have  been  so 
notoriously  guided  in  their  extension  by  the  information  derived  from  patriotic 
emissaries  of  Christianity  that  the  negro  potentate  was  scarcely  unjust  when  he 
complained  that  '  first  came  the  missionary,  then  the  merchant,  then  the  consul, 
and  then  the  man-of-war.'  For  missionary  enterprise  in  the  future  I  see  a  great 
sphere  of  usefulness— work  to  be  done  in  the  service  of  civilisation  which  shall  rise 
superior  to  the  mere  inculcation  of  dogma;  work  which  shall  have  for  its  object  the 
careful  education  and  kindly  guardianship  of  struggling,  backward  peoples ;  work 
which,  in  its  lasting  effects  on  men's  minds,  shall  be  gratefully  remembered  by  the 
new  races  of  Africa  when  the  sectarian  fervour  which  prompted  it  shall  long  have 
been  forgotten." 


38  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

era  of  literature  established  under  the  noble  and  helpful  influences  of 
missions  is  incalculable,  and  of  hardly  less  significance  is  it  to  have  the 
modern  renaissance  in  the  literary  development  of  already  lettered 
people  occur  under  the  auspices  of  Christian  culture.^  The  old  litera- 
•ure  is  usually  antiquated,  effete,  moribund,  and  useless  for  the  purposes 
of  modern  progress.  It  is  rather  an  incubus  upon  the  intellect  and 
the  heart,  and  must  be  supplanted  by  a  culture  which  is  quickened  and 
fed  from  later  sources  of  supply. 

We  should  not  fail  to  note,  moreover,  in  this  connection,  that  the 
awakening  of  literary  desires  and  the  cultivation  of  intellectual  and 
esthetic  tastes  have  stimulated  a  large  realm  of  economic  enterprise, 
which  will  in  time  give  employment  to  an  army  of  workers  engaged  in 
literary  production,  and  in  the  publishing,  editing,  printing,  and  distribu- 
ting of  books  and  periodicals,  thus  ministering  to  the  growing  intel- 
lectual and  artistic  wants  of  an  educated  community.  This  conclusion 
may  safely  be  reached  if  foreign  mission  activities  in  journalistic  and 
literary  fields  are  to  result  in  a  general  demand  for  literature  which 
bears  any  comparison  with  the  present  output  within  the  bounds  of 
Christendom,  where  millions  of  money  are  in  circulation  and  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  workers  are  busy  supplying  the  intellectual  require- 
ments of  the  age. 

The  reflecting  onlooker  cannot  fail  to  note  in  this  connection  the 

inestimable  value  of  the  Bible  as  a  part  of  national  literature.2    who 

can  gauge  the  benefit  which  follows  the  introduc- 

God's  Word  the  supreme  jjo^  ^f  Ciod's  tlioughts  into  the  intellectual,  social, 

gift  of  misiiont  to  ,       ,.    .  ,  ^     ii'U^  „«~  ..,^;r,K 

Eastern  literature,  and  rcligious  experience  of  man?  \v  ho  can  weigh 
the  import  of  placing  such  a  mandatory  and  sanc- 
tioning phrase  as  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  "  in  the  current  of  the  heart-lifo 
of  a  nation?  Who  can  measure  the  moulding  power  of  divine  in- 
struction concerning  the  individual  life  as  well  as  the  mutual  relation- 
ships of  human  intercourse?  What  terms  of  gratitude  are  sufficiently 
adequate  to  express  the  indebtedness  of  a  people  to  those  who  brinj; 
them  this  grand  heritage  of  our  common  humanity— God's  light  upon 
human  duty  and  destiny?  ^ 

It  is  true  that  the  more  enlightened  nations  of  the  Orient  have 
sacred  books  of  their  own,  but,  in  many  instances,  these  very  classics 

»  Cf.  Mabie,  "  Essays  on  Books  and  Culture,"  chap,  x.,  "  Liberation  through 
Ideas,"  pp.  121-131. 

•i  Pattison,  "  History  of  the  English  Bible." 

>  Cf.  Warren,  "  The  Bible  in  the  World's  Education  "  ;  Northrup,  "  The  Bible 
as  an  Kilucator." 


«      *             • 

i 

p. 

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^^PlT     r™n|^!^!^J3i^^^?lB' *-i«^ 

.•'«  ^ibl^  TroHilaCc 

"  '.''79- 

'"■^-    ■  -'-J 

■Be  hI^^k  -jJP^'-'*^  ■Cjk       "^^     j^**' 

■s 

* ' ;»' 


riii-c  L't'iial  (  las-%  ..t 


I  Milsl.tl"rs  '.I  ttu-  IWbil   illl.'  ttir    I  i-Uit:ii  i.iiiuu.ii:*-.  I  -7  .. 
Ilii'  I  .iM.nh.in  l'tt-.ti\lirian  Missii.ii.  (  <  ntr.il  Iiuli.i       Hi\    W.  A    Wils.  .m  ^i-.iicl 


in  llii-  ..ntrr  ..n  ,ii,'  \,-fi,  ,iiul  Kiv    N.  II    kus-,cU  1.11  tin  rijitu 


f  v\N|   ^  I  i\(.     A\l) 


AlHIN(i     (n'P 


w 


(IKll      IN       l\ll|.\. 


I  i 


kl*.t 


r.Zi  tfl..-:., 


rj/£  DAIV.V  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL   ERA   IN  MISSIONS    LsfeBRARY. 

of  their  religious  faith  are  responsible  for  a  large  part  of  the  default  and 
moral  scandal  of  their  social  condition.  Professor  Fairbairn  quotes  a 
distinguished  scholar  as  saying :  "  If  you  want  to  prove  the  truth,  the 
wisdom,  the  sober  and  honest  history  of  the  Bible,  and  the  purity  of  its 
religion,  place  it  among  the  sacred  books  of  the  East.  In  these  books 
there  are  many  grains  of  gold,  but  they  are  hid  in  mountains  of  the 
most  extraordinary  rubbish,  and  the  astonishing  thing  is  that  it  is  the 
rubbish  that  calls  forth  the  enthusiasm  and  admiration  of  the  peoples 
that  own  them.  The  sobriety  of  the  Bible,  the  purity  of  its  spirit,  the 
elevation  and  devotion  of  its  tone,  make  it  occupy  an  entirely  unique 
place."  1 

Among  more  backward  and  barbarous  races  little,  if  any,  sacred 
hterature  which  is  worthy  of  the  name  exists.  Mythological  legends, 
puerile  superstitions,  fantastic  tales  of  demons,  rhapsodical  mutterings, 
solemn  gibberish,  or  the  empty  rodomontade  of  medicine-men  and 
witch-doctors,  make  up  the  sum  total  of  their  sacred  traditions.  To  in- 
troduce the  light,  the  hope,  the  truth,  the  wholesome  instruction,  the 
guiding  wisdom,  the  restraining  commands,  and  the  glowing  assurances 
of  a  sanctified  Christian  literature  into  the  intellectual  life  of  nations 
so  bereft,  so  demoralized,  so  enslaved  by  ignorance,  is  a  service  of 
incalculable  import  and  immense  beneficence  to  mankind.  It  is  a  per- 
suasive summons  to  all  that  is  best  in  men ;  it  renews  their  mental 
forces ;  it  brings  them  out  of  the  darkness  into  the  light,  out  of  the 
shadow  into  the  sunshine ;  and  places  them  where  all  their  spiritual 
gifts  may  ripen,  their  intellectual  powers  fructify,  and  tlieir  moral  capa- 
bilities develop  for  the  higher  interests  of  themselves  and  their  poster- 
ity. This  is  surely  one  of  the  most  quickening  services  of  Christian 
missions  for  the  social  as  well  as  the  mental  and  spiritual  development 
of  mankind. 


ir 


1 


■r 


The  cultivation  of  the  philanthropic  spirit  is  another  of  the  notable 
results  of  missions.     Under  direct  missionary  auspices  a  large  and  im- 
pressive exemplification  of  the  benevolent  spirit  of 
Christianity  has  been  given.     An  impulse  in  this  The  influence  of  mUiiont 
direction  has  been  imparted  not  only  to  the  native    t.U^rphfumhSy. 
Christian  community,  but,  in  a  measure,  to  non- 
Christian  society  wherever  missions  are  <oiuiucted.     Benevolence  both 
as  a  grace  and  a  duty  has  always  been  part  of  the  historic  outcome  of 
1  Fairbairu,  "  Religion  in  History  aniJ  in  Modern  Life,"  p.  I02. 


i  ^ 


40  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Christianity.  The  Christian  religion  is  still  assuming  as  part  of  its 
mission  activities  the  r61e  of  the  Good  Samaritan  among  the  nations.* 
A  social  system  without  the  presence  and  the  active  mmistry  of  philan- 
thropy is  doomed  to  selfishness  and  sterility,  since  the  most  powerful 
and  winsome  incentive  to  mutual  helpfulness,  and  so  to  the  develop- 
ment of  social  virtues,  is  lacking. 

It  is  true  that  a  theoretical,  and  after  a  fashion  practical,  benevolence 
is  part  of  other  religious  systems.     Almsgiving  is  popular  in  the  East, 
but  it  is  identified  with  a  meritorious  system  of  religious  observance. 
The  giving  of  nlms  is  inculcated  as  an  act  of  merit,  especially  for  the 
benefit  of  religious  devotees,  who  live  in  filth  and  idleness,  and  are  an 
incubus  on  society  rather  than  a  help  to  it.     In  some  instances  the 
benevolent  instinct  seems  to  turn  from  living  men  and  women  to  ex- 
haust itself  either  upon  animals  or  on  an  ancestral  humanity  dead  and 
gone.     It  may  safely  be  said  that  the  systematic,  universal,  persistent 
practice  of  philanthropic  and  helpful  ministry  to  li%ing  humanity  m  its 
hour  of  need,  for  God's  sake  and  for  charity's  sake,  is  characteristic  of 
the  religion  of  Christ   n  a  sense  unknown  in  other  systems.'-!     it  alone 
teaches  in  a  clear  an.    emphatic  way  the  sacredness  of  the  living  body 
in  its  earthly  enviror      nt,  and  seeks  to  brighten  and  cheer  human  hves, 
to  assuage  pain  an-      -liver  the  sufferer  from  its  dread  mastery,  to  stay 

»  Pierce,  "  Th-  m  of  Christ,"  p.  183. 

«  The  foUowin  -ta  «:s  include  d..ta  which  have  been  verified,  and  may  stand 
U  a  fairly  appro  aal^-  not  absolutely  complete -representation  of  the  philan- 
thropic  agencies  of  missi  The  total  of  medical  missionaries  at  present  is  680; 

of  this  numher  470  are  ,  and  .  ^o  women.     There  are  45  medical  schools  and 

classes  witli  ^^-  .lale  a,.  .  )  fema  tuuoi.ts- making  a  total  of  461.  There  are  21 
training-scho.  >r  nurses  with  14'  I'up'l'*-  ^■  «-'''>"  of  these  statements  includes 
240  female  medical  studon  -  no«  i.i  training  as  physicians,  nurses,  and  hospital 
assistants,  under  the  care  of  the  I.ady  Hufferin  Association  in  India.  There  are  348 
hospitals  and  774  dispensaries.  Exact  statements  as  to  the  number  of  patients  an- 
nually  treated  have  l>een  obtained  from  293  hospitals  and  661  dispensaries,  the  total 
patients  recorded  in  these  returns  being  2,009,970,  representing  5,087,169  treat- 
ments. If  we  make  a  proportionate  estimate  for  the  55  hospitals  and  113  dispen- 
saries  from  which  reports  of  the  number  of  patients  have  not  as  yet  been  received, 
the  sum  total  of  those  annually  treated  will  be  not  far  from  2.500,000.  If  we  allow 
an  average  of  three  separate  visits  or  treatments  for  each  patient,  the  total  of  annual 
treatments  will  be  7,500,000.  There  are  97  leper  asylums,  homes,  and  settlements, 
with  5453  inmates,  of  whom  1987  are  Christians.  There  are  227  orphan  and  found- 
ling asylums,  with  14,695  inmates.  The  statistics  of  temperance-reform  an.i  rescue 
societies  have  not  been  obtained  with  sufTicicnt  exactness  to  report  at  present.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  children's  aid  societies,  prison-reform  movements,  and  othor 
less  prominent  charities.  More  detailed  information  will  be  found  in  the  supple 
mental  tables  of  statistics  to  be  published  in  Volume  III. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCWIOGICAI  £RA  IN  MISSIONS      41 

the  ravages  of  disease,  to  mitigate  the  agony  of  incurable  maladies,  to 
care  for  the  weak  and  helpless,  to  put  a  stop  to  bloodshed  and  savage 
torture,  and  to  inspire  that  fine  and  humane  dread  of  inflicting  pain 
which  is  characteristic  of  Christian  feeling.     Its  programme,  in  the 
words  of  its  Master,  is  "  to  heal  all  manner  of  disease  and  all  manner  of 
sickness."     Its  aim  is  to  dispel  the  darkness,  to  brighten  the  shadows, 
to  give  a  home  to  the  homeless,  an  asylum  to  the  orphan,  a  refuge  to  the 
Iiard-pressed,  deliverance  to  the  enslaved,  and  an  uplift  of  hope  and 
cheer  to  the  despairing.     It  seeks  to  open  up  the  path  of  honest  occu- 
pation by  placing  the  tools  of  industry  in  savage  hands  accustomed  only 
10  wield  weapons  of  violence.    Christianity  has  a  whole  round  of  expe- 
dients for  the  rescue  of  distressed  humanity,  the  mitigation  of  its  sorrows 
iind  sufferings  and  the  saving  of  lives  that  otherwise  would  be  doomed. 
Ihe  philanthropic  spirit,  with  its  complement  of  practice,  which 
these  expedients  represent,  is  a  signal  contribution  of  missions  to  non- 
Christian  society.     Medical  missionary  service,  hospitals  for  the  suffer- 
ing, and  benevolent  institutions  of  various  kinds,  have  sprung  up  on 
every  shore  where  Christian  missions  have  planted  the  Red  Cross  flag 
of  humanitarian  ministry.     Suffering  nations  are  already  reaping  a  har" 
vest  of  beneficent  results,  and  as  yet  only  the  first-fruits  have  been  gath- 
ered.    Stimulus  has  here   and  there  been  given   to  philanthropic 
movements  under  non-Christian  auspices  which  have  brought  some 
benefits  where  hitherto  only  neglect  had  been  the  rule.     In  South 
China,  for  example,  what  are  known  as  Sacred  Edict  Preaching  Halls 
have  been  established  to  give  instruction  in  Confucian  ethics  as  an 
antidote  to  Gospel  preaching.     Native  benevolent  societies  have  also 
been  formed  to  meet  missionary  philanthropy  on  its  own  ground.*     A 

>  "  It  cannot  be  too  emphatically  toKl  that  this  Sacred  Edict  Preaching  Hall 
movement  is  due  entirely  to  Christianity.  Before  missions  from  the  West  were 
estabhshed  and  maintained  with  ever-growing  success,  not  a  Sacred  Edict  Hall 
existed.  There  was  no  attempt  to  popularize  the  teachings  of  the  sages  or  bring 
these  teachmgs  to  the  doors  of  the  people.  The  Sacred  !•  <lict  itself  was  re.id  and 
expounded  within  the  precincts  of  certain  official  buildings  on  the  mornings  of  the 
m  and  15th  of  each  month.  It  was  a  procedure  purely  formal.  The  public,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  two  or  three  loiterers,  did  not  attend  the  rca.lings,  nor 
was  any  endeavor  made  to  induce  the  populace  to  hear  the  Edict.  Christianity  has 
evoked  a  movement,  now  widespread,  to  bring  all  that  is  best  in  Confudan  teaching 
to  bear  on  the  life  of  the  people,  and  in  .iny  .-iccount  of  what  the  Gospel  is  doing 
■ndirectly  for  their  moral  and  social  well-being  this  fact  should  have  prominence. 

Missionary  hospitals  have  lc<l  to  the  founding  of  native  societies  in  order  that 
(^hristianity  may  be  met  on  its  own  groun.ls  an<l  o.nqucrcd  with  its  own  weapons. 
Ihe  Chinese  Benevolent  .Society  of  Canton  is  a  most  noteworthy  institution,  pos- 
SMsmg  wh.t  the  Mtivc*  would  regard  as  a  magnificent  building  of  lofty  and  inipos- 


W.    ' 


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42  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Striking  incident  is  just  at  hand  which  reveals  what  Christianity  can  do 
towards  the  development  of  philanthropy  among  races  the  most  igno- 
rant  and  degraded,  and  apparently  the  least  likely  to  respond  to  human- 
izing influences.  Many  have  no  doubt  noted  the  announcement  m  the 
English  journals  that  among  the  contributions  received  by  the  Mansion 
House  Indian  Famine  Fund  was  the  sum  of  £H\  ^om  the  people  of 
Fiji  This  is  a  Christian  gift.  "  Let  the  fact  be  noted,"  remarks  the 
editor  of  Work  and  U'orhrs  in  the  Mission  Field,  "  and  its  significance 
be  taken  to  heart.  Sixty  years  ago,  at  the  time  of  Her  Majesty  s  ac- 
cession to  the  throne,  the  entire  Fiji  group  was  inhabited  by  pagan 
cannibals.  Its  heathen  darkness  was  unbroken  by  any  ray  of  Christian 
religion  or  civilisation."  i 


VI 


Another  fundamental  social  force  of  manifest  promise  is  the  per- 

sonal  example  of  missionaries  and  native  converts,  whose  daily  lives  are 

passed  in  full  view  of  the  non-Chnstian  world. 

Perionai  example  a.  •    jj  ,;  ^  example  in  the  past  has  been,  and  is  still 

contribution  of  miiiloni  i^''"*'^  '-'""    V  ^  ^        i-  .   j  ;_ 

to  non-chri.ti.n       to  an  immensely  preponderating  extent,  enlisted  m 
society.  ^j^g  maintenance  of  existing  customs.     There  is  no 

source  from  which  a  counter-influence  may  be  expected,  unless  Chris- 
tianity in  the  person  of  its  missionaries  and  native  converts,  steps  m 
xv^th  the  silent  power  of  pen  onal  example.     At  first  this  may  seem  to 

inc  proportions,  situated  in  Canton  where  its  central  offices  could  be  most  conve- 
nient   established.     Its  operations  extend  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  provmcal 
ci  y  and    mmediate  neighborhood.     There  are  four  native  doctors  .n  attendance 
dly  at  t      central  building.     These  .en  prescribe  for  all  comers.     The.r  d.ap.o.s 
is   of  course,  from  the  Western  point  of  view  incomplete  and  often  absurd.     The.e 
however   the  fact  of  an  institution  known  throughout  C!,ma,  wUh  a  yearly  e,- 
Id  t:::  amounting  to  many  thousands  of  dollars,  and  with  branches  m    .fferen 
parts  of  the  suburbs  and  in  country  districts.     Here  again  .s  an  ind.rect  result  of 
Ch    sti  nty  manifest  in  the  alleviation  of  suffering  through  heathen  benevolenc 
bro  ght  into  play  by  the  opposing  force  of  ^hn^'i-  --■--Before  m.ss.„ 
were  established  in  the  South  of  China  private  benevolence  was  no  doubt  exerc.  ed 
y  nan    of  the  wealthy  Chinese.     Some  of  these  may  have  combmed  to  heal  the 
ick   to  help  the  destitute  and  fan.ine-stricken,  and  to  bestow  coffins  as  gifts  when 
Ijrlg  famihes  among  their  neighbors  were  found  without  the  me^s  to  bury 
.he  r  dead.     But  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  public  society  organued  for  the  expres 
purpose  of  systematic  and  regular  benevolence,  one  mav  afl5rm.  wM  «.  unheard-of 
pro  ect  "-Rev.  T.  W.  Pearce  (L.  M.  S.).  Hong  Kong.  China. 
1  IVerk  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  FieU,  May,  1897,  P-  177- 


—  3 


17 


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THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  EKA   l.\'  MISSIONS       43 

l)e  of  little  value  and  efficacy  as  an  offset  to  almost  universal  tendencies 
of  an  opposite  character,  but  the  winsome  force  of  a  noble  and  torn- 
mendable  example  is  «)ften  more  powerful  than  the  apparently  formida- 
ble influence  against  which  it  contends.*  Example  that  is  right  in  itself, 
and  that  represents  sincerity  of  conviction,  is  one  of  those  "  little  ones 
which  shall  chase  a  thousand."  The  personal  equation  is  beginning  to 
work  in  the  influence  of  native  Christian  communities,  and  in  the  contri- 
bution here  and  there  of  Lapal)le  leaders  in  tlie  intellectual,  social,  and 
r'  ligious  hfe  of  the  Orient.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to  expect  that  Christiiin 
missions  will  give  birth  in  modern  times  to  a  St.  Chrysostom  or  a  St. 
Augustine,  to  a  Luther,  a  Wilberforce,  a  Howard,  and  to  others  of  like 
fame,  who  have  accomplished  a  noble  and  transforming  work  in  the 
realm  of  human  progress.'-  Missions  are  setting  in  motion  in  all  lands 
that  stream  of  consecrated  personality  which  has  always  characterized 
Christian  history.  They  are  kindling  a  new  enthusiasm  for  human 
welfare  in  nations  where,  if  it  ever  existed,  it  has  been  extinct  for  cen- 
turies. They  are  opening  fountains  of  individual  evangelism  where  a 
Gospel  yearning  for  souls  has  never  been  known. 

The  personal  character  of  missionaries  themselves  is  also  a  factor  in 
the  social  changes  taking  place  in  riwji-Christian  lands  which  it  would 

>  "Just  take  one  phase  of  His  [Christ's]  historical  action— what  He  has  accoin. 
plished  through  great  personalities.  Were  He  dropped  out  of  history,  with  all  the 
historical  personalities  He  has  fashioned,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  conceive  what 
to-day  would  be.  The  mightiest  civilizing  agencies  are  persons;  the  mightiest 
civilizing  persons  have  been  Christian  men.  .  .  .  These  were  the  men  who  made 
the  century  Lne  sixteenth],  but  who  made  the  men?  In  whose  name,  in  whose 
ttrength,  by  obedience  to  whose  will,  as  they  understoo<l  and  believed  it,  did  they 
live  and  act?  Did  not  their  inspiration  come  straight  from  Christ?  .Miolish  these 
men,  and  the  sixteenth  century  loses  its  significance;  alx)lish  Christ,  and  you 
abolish  the  men.  Yet  what  is  true  of  it  is  true  of  all  the  Christian  centuries. 
Subtract  the  Christian  personalities  and  the  ideas  that  reigned  in  and  lived  through 
them,  and  you  have  but  the  struggle  of  brutal  passions,  of  men  savage  through 
ambition  and  lust  of  power;  subtract  Christ,  and  you  dry  up  the  source  of  all  Chris- 
tian personalities  and  ideas,  you  leave  man  to  go  his  old  blind  way,  ungladdened  by 
faith  in  heaven,  uncheered  by  the  ideal  of  a  humanity  to  be  made  perfect  through 
realizing  the  mind  of  its  Maker."— Fairbairn,  "  The  City  of  God,"  pp.  284-286. 

*  "  Our  times,  which  may  now  and  then  appear  mechanical,  commonplace,  take 
deeper  significance  as  we  attentively  consider  the  past,  especially  as  we  note  the  far 
reach  of  influence  in  those  by  whom  its  movements  were  chiefly  affetted.  The 
tremendous  force  which  belongs  to  any  great  personality,  and  the  sovereign  peisis. 
tence  of  its  influence  among  men,  become  apparent.  We  gain  a  profounder  sense 
of  the  unity  of  history,  as  continuous  and  organic.  We  sec  more  distinctly  the 
interdependence  of  centuries  on  each  other,  with  our  indebtedness  to  many  who 
h»ve  labored  and  struggled  before  us."— Storrs,  "  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,"  pp.  6,  7. 
Cf.  also  Gordon,  "  The  Christ  of  Today,"  pp.  287-292, 


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44 


CHRISTIAN  M/SS/OA'S  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


'■    I 


be  difficult  adequately  to  estimate.*  How  many  noble  lives  marked  by 
a  saintly  piety,  a  kindly  ministry,  a  blameless  walk  and  conversation, 
tireless  devotion,  lieroir  fidelity  to  duty,  and  unflinching  advocacy 
of  the  higher  spirit  and  the  nobler  aims  of  Christianity,  have  been 
passed  in  the  presence  of  non-Christian  society!  2  The  story  of  medie- 
val missions  is  redolent  with  the  charm  and  sweetness  of  saintly  example 
and  the  power  of  heroic  living  on  the  part  of  men  and  women  who  gave 
themselves  to  missionary  ser\-ice.  St.  Columba  and  his  associates  were 
bright  illustrations.  Of  St.  Augustine  and  his  missionaries  the  Venera- 
ble Bade  writes :  "  They  soon  began  to  make  some  converts,  who  were 
drawn  to  them  by  the  admiration  they  feU  for  the  holy  innocence  of 
their  lives,  and  the  sweetness  of  the  heavenly  doctrine  which  they 
taught."  3 

Mr.  Adams,  in  his  "  Saints  and  Missionaries  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Era  "  (p.  15),  speaking  of  the  first  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  declares 
that  "  Bede  certainly  ascribes  the  success  of  Augustine's  missionaries  to 
the  wonderful  impression  which  their  manner  of  life  made  on  the  Eng- 
lish." Statements  of  the  same  tenor  are  to  be  found  concerning  the 
personal  character  and  example  of  the  great  Continental  missionaries 

1  Cf.  an  article  on  "  French  of  Lahore,"  in  The  Quarterly  Rex'ietv  (London), 
January,  1896. 

2  "  Mis  ionaries  do  not  need  the  endorsement  of  governments  or  of  those  who 
may  be  termed  men  of  the  world.  They  are  quite  content  to  labor  with  the  ap- 
proval of  their  own  consciences  in  the  sight  of  God.  But  it  may  be  well  for  some 
who  know  little  of  their  work  to  read  what  The  Japan  Mail  says  of  those  who  are 
laboring  in  the  Japanese  Empire.  This  is  a  purely  secular  paper,  but  very  ably 
conducted  by  men  whose  theological  opinions  are  by  no  means  in  accord  with  those 
of  the  missionaries,  yet  it  says  of  them :  '  They  lead  the  most  exemplary  lives  j  de- 
vote themselves  to  deeds  of  charity ;  place  their  educational  and  medical  skill  at  the 
free  disposal  of  the  people,  and  exhibit  in  the  midst  of  sharp  suffering  and  adversity 
a  spirit  of  patience  and  hcnevolence  such  as  ought  to  enlist  universal  S)rmpathy  and 
respect.  It  seems  to  i. .  that  the  record  is  all  in  their  favor.  Watching  the  ques- 
tion closely  for  many  years,  we  have  failed  to  discover  any  want  of  discretion  on  the 
part  of  the  missionaries,  unless  it  be  an  occasional  display  of  unwise  confidence  in 
sending  unprotected  women  into  the  interior.'"— Quoted  in  The  Missionary  HtralJ, 
April,  1896,  p.  142. 

3  Adams,  "  The  Saints  and  Missionaries  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Era,"  p.  ij.  Of 
St.  Aidan  it  is  stated  in  the  same  volume  (p.  105):  "St.  Aidan's  example  had  a 
wonderful  effect  upon  the  English,  and  not  a  few,  both  men  and  women,  were 
stirred  by  it  to  devote  themselves  wholly  to  the  service  of  Christ."  Similar  state- 
ments are  made  of  St.  Aldhelm  (p.  163),  St.  Etheldrida  (p.  193),  St.  Hilda  (p.  288), 
St.  Cuthbert  (p.  328),  and  of  others  of  the  early  English  missionaries.  Cf.  also  for 
instructive  reading  on  this  point,  Maclear,  "  A  History  of  Christian  Missions  During 
the  Middle  Ages,"  and  Mrs.  Rundle  Charles,  "  Early  Christian  Mission!  of  Ireland, 
Scotland,  and  England." 


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THE  DAWN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL   ERA   IX  MISSIONS       45 

of  the  medieval  period— Columbanus,  Willibrord,  Boniface,  Anskar, 
Adalbert,  Otho,  Francis  of  Assisi,  Rayr.iund  Lull,  and  Francis  Xavier.* 
Later  times  in  the  history  of  missions  reveal  the  influence  of  Eliot  and 
Brainerd  among  the  Indians,  of  Hans  Egede  in  Greenland,  of  Schwartz 
in  India,  and  many  other  saintly  characters  who  served  and  walked  with 
God  before  the  eyes  of  degraded  and  ignorant  races.-  Shall  we  ven- 
ture to  gauge  the  power  of  that  object-lesson  in  brotherhood  which,  in 
more  recent  times,  is  given  in  the  lives  of  men  like  Patteson,  Selwyn,  Duff, 
Livingstone,  Mackenzie,  Calhoun,  Thomson,Van  Dyck,Gilmour,  Nevius, 
Hill,  Verbeck,  and  Keith-Falconer?  "  What  do  modem  missions  sig- 
nify? "  asks  Dr.  Fairbaim.  "  That  the  most  cultivated  and  high-blooded 
peoples  on  earth  recognize  their  kinship  and  the  obligations  oi  their 
kinship  to  the  most  savage  and  debased.  ...  It  [the  Christian  reli- 
gion] has  made  civilized  man  feel  that  he  and  the  savage  are  of  one 
blood,  that  the  savage  is  as  dear  to  God  as  he  is,  has  as  vast  capabilities, 
as  boundless  a  promise  of  being  as  his  own  nature  can  boast.  The 
religion  that  has  created  this  sense  of  kinship  and  duty  is  the  true 
mother  of  man's  faith  in  human  fraternity."  ^ 

The  import  of  example,  both  on  the  part  of  the  missionary  and 
the  worthy  native  convert,  is  not  confined  to  the  scope  of  their  individ- 
ual influence.     There  is  an  object-lesson,  too,  in 
Christian  family  life  planted  in  communities  as  yet    "^^^  ChrUtian  family: 

_    J   ,      ..  ....  ,     „       ,        .  .     iti  power  ■■  an  object- 

very  defective  in  civilization  or  wholly  dominated  leaion. 

by  savagery.  Some  have  questioned  the  useful- 
ness, or  even  the  wisdom,  of  marriage  on  the  part  of  missionaries. 
Now,  while  it  is  true  that  there  may  be  some  kinds  of  pioneer  work,  or 
special  service  attended  with  temporary  hardship  and  peril,  in  which 
the  celibate  missionary  has  an  advantage,  yet,  as  a  rule,  marriage  is  a  dis- 
tinct gain  as  regards  both  efficiency  and  scope  of  influence.  Native  com- 
munities must  have  their  homes,  and  they  need  the  model  presented  in  the 
domestic  life  of  the  missionary.  There  i>  ?  so  an  aspect  of  stability,  of  so- 
cial dignity  and  natural  accessibility  in  family  life,  as  well  as  a  refining  en- 
vironment. A  Christian  home  planted  in  a  community  which  it  seeks  to 
mould  after  its  own  likeness  is  an  immense  gain  to  non-Christian  society. 

>  Maclear,  "A  History  of  Christian  Missions  During  the  Middle  Ages,"  and 
"  Apostles  of  Mediaeval  Europe  " ;  Smith,  "  Medixval  Missions  " ;  Summers,  "  The 
Rise  and  Spread  of  Christianity  in  Europe." 

'^  Walsh,  "  Heroes  of  the  Mission  Field,"  and  "  Modern  Heroes  of  the  Mission 
Field";  Creegan,  "Great  Missionaries  of  the  Church";  Haydn,  "American 
Heroes  on  Mission  Fields  " ;  Farrar,  "  Saintly  Workers." 

'  Fairbairn,  "  Religion  in  History  and  in  Modern  Life,"  pp.  2J4,  235. 


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40 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


A  word  might  be  said  here  also  as  to  the  status  and  availability  of 

unmarried  women  in  foreign  mission  fields.     That  there  is  an  open 

door,  a  noble  opportunity,  and  a  sacred  ministry 

The  value  of  woman's   Jq^  {jjjg  ^j^^g  qJ  mission  workcts  is  HOW  a  matter 

service  in  foreign  ...  ,        „,. 

missions.  which  need  not  seriously  be  argued.     The  mis- 

sionary societies  of  Great  Britain  and  America  have 
taken  the  lead  in  recognizing  the  possibilities  of  effective  service  in  the 
foreign  field  by  unmarried  women.  Continental  societies  have  moved 
more  slowly,  and  in  some  instances  seem  to  be  still  open  to  conviction. 
At  the  Bremen  Missionary  Conference  of  1880  the  question  of  send- 
ing independent  female  missionaries  was  raised,  and  received  with 
considerable  coldness  and  reserve.^  The  proposal,  however,  was 
earnestly  advocated  by  Dr.  Gustav  Wameck,  but  with  little  success. 
In  the  notable  report  on  foreign  missions  presented  at  the  Lambeth 
Conference  of  1897,  there  is  a  distinct  recognition,  based  of  course 
upon  experience,  of  "  the  value  of  the  work  of  women  "  in  mission 
fields.2  "  Women  are  needed  for  missionaries  as  well  as  men,"  writes 
Sir  Harry  Johnston  concerning  British  Central  Africa.  "  On  the  whole, 
I  think  women  make  better  missionaries  than  men,  and  are  always  much 
more  lovable  in  that  aspect.  Let  them,  therefore,  continue  to  go  out 
to  Africa  as  celibates  if  they  are  over  thirty-five,  but  otherwise  as 
married  women." ^  There  were  2500  unmarried  women  connected  with 
all  Trotestant  missionary  societies  in  1894,  and  women,  married  and 
unmarried,  in  the  foreign  fields  exceeded  the  men  in  number  by  about 
a  thousand.*  At  the  present  time  ( 1 899)  this  number  has  increased  to 
fully  3  5  00  unmarried,  and  a  total  of  8000  married  and  unmarried  women. 
The  fact  that  there  are  social  prejudices  existing  in  foreign  com- 
munities (notably  in  China)  to  be  overcome,  is  not  a  sufficient  reason 
for  denying  to  Christian  women  their  place  of  privilege  and  power 
in  mission  work.*    There  are  prejudices  deep-seated  and  petrified 

1  Wameck,  "  Outline  of  the  History  of  Protestant  Missions,"  p.  213. 

2  "  Conference  of  Bishops  of  the  Anglican  Communion,  Holden  at  Lambeth 
Palace  in  July,  1897,"  p.  71. 

3  Johnston,  "  British  Central  Africa,"  pp.  190,  200. 
*  Buckland,  "  Women  in  the  Mission  Field,"  p.  23. 

5  Just  here  let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  note  how  a  tactful  missionary  woman 
will,  (lay  after  day,  conduct  a  quiet  crusade  against  those  two  social  monstrosities 
of  China— the  crushed  and  shortened  feet,  and  the  elongated  finger-nails. 

Dr.  Mary  H.  Fulton,  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission  at  Canton,  writes : 
"  I  am  doing  what  little  I  can  in  my  small  sphere  to  show  an  applied  Christianity, 
lu  the  first  place,  I  try  always  to  be  neat  in  dress.  This  invariably  calls  out  com- 
plimentary remarks.  They  at  once  compare  my  pretty  and  fresh,  though  cheap, 
dress  with  their  silken  (and  generally  soiled)  robes.     Then  they  notice  my  clean, 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IX  MISSIONS       47 

against  almost  ever>thing  connected  with  Christianity.  Native  public 
opinion  is  especially  out  of  focus  with  Christian  civilization  in  its  views 
of  woman  and  her  social  environment.  It  regards  her  in  the  light  of 
that  traditional  distrust  and  detraction  which  has  prevailed  for  unknown 
centuries  in  the  East.  It  is  the  function  of  Christi  Mty  to  teach  nobler 
things  concerning  womankind,  and  to  enforce  its  teaching  by  practice. 
It  may  require  sacrifice  and  take  time,  but  the  result  will  be  a  perma- 
nent gain.  The  portraiture  of  womanly  virtue  without  the  humiliating 
exactions  of  the  Orient,  and  the  sweet  example  of  womanly  service 
pervaded  and  inspired  by  the  Christian  spirit,  dignified  and  protected 
by  innate  purity  and  refinement,  present  a  social  parable  which  is  sadly 
needed  in  the  Oriental  worid,  and  which  in  many  communities  has  not 
been  given  except  under  the  auspices  of  Christian  missions.^  Then, 
again,  the  good  which  single  women  can  do  in  the  service  of  their  own 
sex  far  outweighs  in  significance  and  value  the  injury  which  may  result 
from  the  shock  to  the  perfunctory  sensibilities  of  native  society  in  China 
or  elsewhere.2 

short  nails,  and  contrast  them  with  their  long  ones,— often  fully  a  finger  in  length,— 
which  indicate  that  they  are  ladies  of  leisure.  They  at  once  want  to  know  why  I 
dress  so  differently  from  them.  It  is  an  easy  step  to  tell  them  that  God,  who  made 
us,  has  put  women  into  the  world  for  use,  and  not  merely  to  live  to  adorn  our  bodies, 
and  that  there  are  many  poor  suffering  children  and  others  who  need  our  help.  If 
we  have  such  long  nails  and  bound  feet,  we  cannot  go  about  to  help  them.  They  all 
assent  to  this,  and  generally  there  is  an  inquiry  on  the  part  of  some  one  present  if 
she  cannot  have  her  feet  unbound.  Then  you  should  hear  the  clamor!  A  dozen 
will  admonish  the  one  who  dared  to  be  so  bold  as  to  propose  such  a  thing.  '  Had 
she  lost  all  her  modesty  that  she  wanted  to  go  about  like  a  man?  '  Now  you  will 
laugh,  but  all  my  arguments  are  as  nothing  compared  with  showing  them  a  well-fit- 
ting, pretty  foreign  boot  or  shoe.  I  have  always  thought,  since  feet  are  such  a 
momentous  question  in  this  land,  that  we  should  be  very  careful  to  make  our  own 
as  presentable  as  possible.  To  see  us  start  off  quickly  and  gracefully  and  go 
through  the  streets  so  independently  often  makes  them  desirous  of  imitating  us, 
especially  when  they  see  women  hobbling  along  painfully,  or  being  carried  on  the 
backs  of  others.  The  same  is  true  of  our  homes.  I  try  to  make  mine  attractive  in 
its  simplicity.  I  have  a  weekly  prayer-meeting  here  just  because  I  want  to  show 
my  home  to  these  women  who  have  never  seen  cleanliness  and  order  in  their  dark, 
damp,  crowded  quarters.  I  give  them,  after  the  meeting,  tea  and  sponge-cake,  served 
in  pretty  cups  and  plates.  Simple  as  all  this  is,  it  lifts  them  up  and  out  of  their  sor- 
did  surroundings,  for  the  time  being,  at  least,  and,  I  hope,  will  lead  them  to  make 
their  own  houses  more  homelike.  I  always  urge  those  coming  under  my  influence  to 
try  and  be  as  clean  as  possible,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  observe  year  by  year 
an  increasing  tendency  to  the  use  of  foreign  soap  and  handkerchiefs." 

1  Telford,  "  Women  in  the  Mission  Field." 

*  The  sphere  of  missionary  women  and  the  value  of  their  services  were  recently 
discussed  in  a  very  intelligent  and  sensible  paper  presented  by  the  Rev.  Fung  Chak, 


I  i^ 


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48  CHRISTIAN  MISSIOXS  AXD  SOCIAL   PROGRESS 

The  presence  of  missionaries  in  great  emergencies,  and  in  timet  of 
calamity  and  pestilence,  has  been  both  an  example  and  a  succor  to  dis- 
tressed communities.     Recent  events  in  Armenia 
|Tht  heroic  tiament  in   present  an   impressive   illustration  of  this  fact, 
""'locl^'y^ut"'       Both  missionaries  and  their  native  converts  have 
exhibited  a  heroism  and  loyalty  which  have  elicited 
the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  world.     Amidst  the  horrible  atrocities 
and  sore  calamities  of  the  massacres  in  Armenia,  American  missionaries 
have  exerted  a  moral  influence,  and  accomplished  a  practical  service, 
of  the  highest  value.     They  have  comforted  and  cheered  native  friends 
during  the  heartrending  terrors  of  recent  years.     Where  there  has  been 
opportunity  for  personal  intervention,  they  have  checked  to  some  ex- 
tent the  awful  cruelties  of  the  Turkish  soldiery  and  their  brutal  ac- 
cessories.     They  have  been  the  almoners  of  contributions  which  the 
Christians  of  other  lands  have  sent,  and  have  given  trustworthy  in- 
formation to  Christendom  concerning  the  extent  and  unspeakable  bar- 
barity of  one  of  the  darkest  and  most  inhuman  incidents  of  modern 
history.      It  is  no  insignificant  service  to  civilization  and  humanity 
which  is  rendered  by  Christian  missionaries  scattered  throughout  the 
earth  on  a  kind  of  moral  picket  duty,  when  they  give  authentic  and  well- 

•t  the  Baptist  Association  of  1896,  representing  the  two  Kwaug  provinces  in  South- 
ern China.  As  the  views  of  a  native  pastor,  the  following  summary  is  worth  re- 
cording : 

"  Women  from  the  West,  as  the  embodiment  of  God's  love  for  the  world,  have 
crossed  the  ocean,  and,  not  dreading  danger,  have  come  to  China  to  spread  the 
truth,  to  teach  Chinese  women.  Let  me  enumerate  some  of  the  benefits  which 
come  from  women's  work  here. 

"I.  They  teach  the  girls  to  read.  Most  of  the  Western  women  who  come  to 
China  have  schools,  and  employ  competent  teachers  to  teach  Chinese  girls,  for  the 
Chinese  custom  is  to  make  much  of  boys,  but  little  of  girls. 

"  2.  Foreign  women  teach  our  women  to  know  God's  doctrine.  Since  divine 
truth  is  in  the  Bible,  by  teaching  them  to  read  it  for  themselves  they  also  teach 
them  proprie'v,  justice,  and  modesty,  and  cause  them  to  lead  lives  of  virtue  and 
refinement,  to  love  God,  and  trust  in  the  Saviour,  and  be  self-restrained  and  benevo- 

lent.  .  .  . 

•'  3.  They  benefit  the  women  of  China  by  teaching  them  the  proper  way  to  tram 
their  daughters.  It  is  hard  to  enumerate  the  bad  customs  that  prevail.  These 
are  all  due  to  ignorance  and  want  of  proper  instruction  of  the  women.  .  .  . 

"  4.  The  benefit  to  national  manners.  Although  China  is  great,  it  is  still  a  land 
of  darkness.  Superstitions  and  errors  fill  the  land.  But  now  Chinese  female 
teachers  are  teaching  the  Gospel,  and  opening  the  way  that  the  women  may  put 
away  their  superstitions  and  follow  the  true  doctrine.  ... 

"  Moreover,  these  Western  teachers  teach  the  Chinese  the  virtue  of  self-denial 
in  three  respects:   I.  By  their  faithfulness  in  the  Lord's  service.     L»»t  year  the 


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THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IX  Af/SS/OXS      4U 

vouched-for  report?  of  what  is  going  on  in  lands  where  irresponsible 
power  has  supreme  control.  It  keeps  Christian  nations  in  direct,  al- 
though unofficial,  touch  with  less  civilized  peoi)les,  and  serves  also  to 
exert  a  measure  of  restraint  upon  the  otherwise  unchecked  passions  of 
reckless  men  in  places  of  authority. 

There  is,  on  this  account,  a  distinct  contribution  to  the  social  wel- 
fare of  non-Christian  communities  in  the  object-lesson  of  missionary 
and  native  Christian  example.  Are  not  Christian  missions,  moreover, 
the  only  channel  through  which  a  gift  so  precious  and  potent,  so  rare 
and  noble,  could  be  conveyed  ?  Let  it  be  noted  also  that  the  honors 
of  martyrdom,  its  sacred  inspiration,  and  the  increment  of  moral  power 
which  it  gives  to  the  manhood  and  womanhood  of  the  world,  belong 
in  our  present  century  almost  exclusively  to  missions.' 

The  roll-cill  of  missionaries  is  far  too  long  to  allow  of  any  at- 
tempt to  enumerate  more  than  a  few  scattered  names ;  yet  of  all  who 
have  ever  joined 

"  the  choir  invisible 
Of  those  immortal  dead  who  live  again 
In  minds  made  better  by  their  presence," 

none  can  be  said  more  truly  to  realize  the  beautiful  suggestiveness  of 
the  poetic  conception  than  sainted  missionaries  who  "  live  again  "  in 
souls  purified  amidst  brooding  degradation,  re- 
newed amiilst  moral  decay,  and  beautified  amidst  The  mutic  of  "th*  choir 
the  abounding  ughness  of  heathenism.    There  are  .ry  hutory. 

hundreds,  even  thousands,  of  these  missionary  liv«i 
which  would  furnish  ample  illustration  of  this  statement,  ?1though  not 
a  few  of  those  whose  examples  have  proved  esj  lally  •>  ufing  have 
lived  in  comparative  obscurity.  It  is  not  easy  to  dep  in  literary 
form  the  secret  influences  incidental  to  personality,  save  a«  we  are  able 
to  sketch  them  in  biographical  detail,  dealing  with  the  1^  as  related 
to  its  environment.  A  few  examples  must  suffice  to  giv*  ,  m  insight 
into  the  subtile  and  far-reaching  effects  of  individual  cfc         •».- 

ladies  in  our  Baptist  Mission  visited  one  hundred  and  sixteen  villaj-.  iy  their 

earnestness  in  pressing  forward.  3.  In  accommodating  themselves  i„  rhers.  By 
their  sympathy  and  wisdom,  their  love  and  gentleness,  their  peaceful  -  ami  pa- 
tience, they  become  acceptable  to  all.  Thus  wherever  they  go  they  ar-  conif  d  : 
the  doctrine  is  inscribed  on  their  lips,  and  their  manners  are  admired,  mmi  homes 
of  rich  and  poor  are  opened  to  their  teaching ;  all  admire  their  virtue,  in  that  tl  .plift 
the  women  and  pity  the  girls."— r>4^  CAinese  RtcorJer,  August,  1896,  pp    ,         ^4. 

•  Harris,  "  A  Century  of  Missicso;/  Martyrs." 

*  In  addition  to  the  illustrp.iions  given  in  the  following  pages,  the  re«iH  r 
consult  the  missionary  biographies  mentioned  in  the  bibliography  at  the  end  of 


It! 


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BO  CJ/Jt/sr/AX  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PJtOCKESS 

The  Rtv.  F.  E.  Iloskins  write*  that  during  a  miwion  tour  he  wa» 
•eated  with  a  group  of  Syrian  friendi  in  the  little  village  of  Alma,  on 
the  southe'n  bon'.ers  of  the  Syria  Mission  field,  when  the  following  in. 
rident  was  related.  A  native  Protestant  teacher  had  recently  been 
c  ailed  to  Tyre  on  business,  and  as  he  was  passing  Alexander's  Fountain, 
not  far  from  the  city,  he  was  hailed  by  a  Turkish  soldier,  who  was 
doing  guard  duty.  The  soldier  (juestioned  him  as  to  who  he  was,  whence 
he  came,  whither  he  was  going,  and.  finally,  what  his  religion  was. 
Upon  his  replying  that  he  was  a  Protestant  Christian  (/njeely),  the 
rough  solc'ier  responded  promptly :  "  Were  it  not  for  the  memory  of 
Mr.  Dale,  I  would  smother  your  relij^ion  with  curses."  Surely  here  is 
a  lesson  concerning  the  power  of  a  loyal  Christian  life.  "  Somewhere 
and  somehow,"  writes  Mr.  Iloskins,  "that  man  had  been  brought  into 
contact  with  Mr.  Dale.'  The  influence  of  his  consecrated  life  had 
pierced  the  rough  exterior  and  softened  the  heart  of  the  soldier,  so  that 
years  after  Mr.  Dale's  death  he  was  constrained  to  dismiss  that  humble 
native  brother  from  Alma,  not  with  sursing,  but  with  '  Go  in  peace.'  " 

The  late  Rev.  Charles  W.  Forman,  D.D.,  of  the  American  Presby- 
terian  Mission  in  Lahore,  has  left  as  his  legacy  to  Indian  society  the 
influence  of  fifty  years  of  saintly  living.  How  deeply  the  power  of  his 
personal  example  entered  into  the  lives  of  those  around  him  may  be 
gathered  from  the  tributes  from  native  sources  which  were  called  forth 
by  his  death.2 

lecture.  He  will  find  also  much  to  confirm  the  estimate  placed  upon  the  ralue  of 
missionary  character  and  example  in  the  shorter  biographical  sketches  scattered 
through  the  current  missionary  literature  of  recent  years.  Cf.  also  article  by  Julian 
Hawthorne,  in  '//;<•  Cosmofx>ntan,  September,  1897,  p.  512. 

>  The  Rev.  Gerald  F.  Dale,  Jr.,  went  :o  Syria  as  a  missionary  by  appointment  of 
the  American  Presbyterian  Board  in  1872,  and  died  in  ^ahleh,  Mount  Lebanon, 
October  6, 1886.  He  was  a  man  of  ideal  missionary  enthusiasm,  gifted  with  power  to 
touch  and  influence  others,  and  has  left  an  impress  which  seems  to  be  ineffaceable 
upon  thousands  of  Syrian  hearts. 

i  "  The  Tribune  of  Lahore,  a  non-Christian  journal,  referred  to  him  editorially 

as  follows : 

"  '  It  will  be  long  before  Lahoris  forget  the  sweet  and  benign  face  of  the  great 
American  missionary.  We  doubt  whether  any  other  man,  Eur  pean  or  Indian,  has 
taken  as  great  a  part  in  the  making  of  the  Punjab  of  to-day  as  has  Dr.  Forman.  A 
history  of  his  educational  work  would  be  almost  the  educational  history  of  the 
province.  Though  he  is  no  longer  working  in  the  flesh  in  our  midst,  the  spirit 
of  his  work  will  beacon  us  onward.     His  memory  will  long  be  a  pillar  of  light  to 

our  people.' 

"  The  Indian  Standard  writes :  '  We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  no  man  of  this 
century  has  exerted  a  larger  personal  influence  on  the  people  of  the  Punjab.' 

"  Thi  Civil  and  Military  Gazette  remarks :  '  It  is,  perhaps,  not  saying  too  much 


IJi 


THE  DAWX  OF  A   SOdOLOClCt.    SiiA  IN  MISSIONS      61 

Of  the  Ute  Miu  Eliza  Agnew,  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board 
in  Ceylon,  the  natives  were  accustomed  to  say  that  she  was  "  the  mo- 
ther of  a  thousand  daughters."  She  lived  in  Ceylon  forty- three  years 
without  returning  to  her  native  land  on  furlough.  For  forty  of  these 
years  she  was  the  Principal  of  the  Oodooville  GirU'  Boarding  School, 
.1  flourishing  educational  institution,  where  during  her  lifetime  she  had 
under  her  \  nal  care  more  than  a  thousand  pupils.  Six  hundred  of 
these  graduated  after  taking  the  full  course,  and  every  one  of  the  six 
hundred  left  the  school  a  professing  Christian.  Many  of  them  engaged 
in  mission  work  as  Bible-women  and  teachers.  It  is  said  of  her  that 
through  the  influence  and  power  of  her  blameless  life  "  she  made  the 
position  of  an  unmarried  lady  missionary  honorable  in  Ceylon  for  all 
future  time.  The  highest  praise  a  native  seems  able  to  bestow  upon  an 
unmarried  lady  worker  in  Ceylon  is  to  say  that  she  was  like  Miss 
Agnew."  > 

Another  devoted  missionary  life,  won  Jerful  in  the  power  of  its  per. 
sonal  influence,  closed,  after  forty-two  years  of  service,  at  Singapore, 
September  14,  1895.  Miss  Sophia  Cooke  entered  upon  missionary 
work  in  the  Orient  at  a  time  when  such  service  was  not  recognized  or 
appreciated  as  it  is  now.  She  lived  to  see,  in  all  the  great  centres  of  the 
East,  Christian  womanhood  consecrated  to  the  Master's  business,  com- 
manding the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  world.  Miss  Cooke  inter- 
ested herself  in  various  ways  in  Christian  service  for  the  women  and 
girls  of  that  great  cosmopolitan  city.  Much  of  it  was  rescue  work 
among  Chinese  girls,  and  many  apparently  hopeless  waifs  were  saved  by 
her.  She  was  busy  also  in  working  for  the  army  and  navy,  and  for 
several  years  conducted  Bible  classes  for  soldiers  at  her  own  home,  and 
was  herself  the  founder  of  the  Sailors'  Rest  at  Singapore.     Her  influ- 

to  state  that  amongst  all  the  foreigners  who  have  lived  in  Lahore  no  one  has  been  more 
widely  known  or  more  universally  respected  and  beloved  by  the  people  than  he 
[Dr.  Forman].' 

"  Tht  Punjab  Patriot  (non-Christian)  thus  expresses  itself  as  to  Dr.  Forman's 
ileath :  '  The  occurrence  has  spread  a  gloom  all  over  the  Punjab,  which  is  full  of  his 
old  pupils.  In  the  city  of  Lahore  the  people  have  mourned  his  loss  as  that  of  one 
of  themselves.  They  feel  that  they  have  lost  in  him  a  real  friend.  A  prince  among 
missionaries,  Dr.  Forman  will  long  be  remembered  in  this  province,  not  only  as  a 
believer  and  worker  in  Christ,  but  for  the  noble,  unselfish  life  he  led  through  his 
long  career.' 

"  Not  less  than  three  thousand  persons  of  all  classes  and  creeds  followed  the 
hearse,  hundreds  joining  the  procession  as  it  passed  through  the  city."— Quoted 
in  Tk*  New  York  Observer,  April  25,  1895. 

^  For  portrait  and  biographical  sketch  of  Miss  .\gncw,  see  T/ie  CAristian, 
London,  Maj  14.  1896.     Cf.  also  Li/e  and  Light,  September,  1894,  p.  409. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


I 


II 


ence  was  a  large  and  important  factor,  and  no  one  was  reached  by  her 
efforts  without  coming  in  contact  with  her  gracious  Christian  personal- 
ity. At  her  death  there  was  a  tribute  of  respect  for  her  memory  from 
those  for  whom  she  had  labored  which  was  remarkable  in  its  character. 
Nothing  more  representative,  it  is  said,  was  ever  seen  in  Singapore 
than  her  funeral,  for  this  devoted  woman  was  laid  to  rest  with  almost 
regal  honors.* 

The  lamented  Rev.  David  Hill,  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  Hankow, 
who  died  April  1 8, 1 896,  was  a  man  of  rare  qualities,  and  his  life  was 
one  of  exceptional  heartiness  in  the  Lord's  service.  To  him  the  In- 
dustrial School  for  the  Blind  at  Hankow  is  largely  indebted  for  its 
prosperity  and  usefulness.  The  boys  in  its  department  of  carpentry 
rendered  as  a  last  tribute  a  touching  service  by  preparing  his  coffin.^ 

In  the  missionary  annals  of  the  Dark  Continent  we  have  lives  in 

which  we  already  see  the  initial  fulfillment  of  the  promise  that  they 

"  shall  shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever."  These 

New  itars  in  the  I'vcs  have  introduced  into  the  spiritual  history  of 
African  firmament.  Africa  a  personal  influence  that  will  never  die,  but 
will  continue  to  gather  force  and  to  work  with  ever- 
expanding  enert;y  as  the  conversion  of  the  Continent  progresses.  Such 
names  as  Schmidt,  Krapf,  Vanderkemp,  Livingstone,  Moffat,  Macken- 
zie, Hannington,  Mackay,  Goldie,  Smythies,  Maples,  Hill,  Walker, 
Bushnell,  Grout  Tyler,  Bridgman,  Scott,  Good,  Pilkington,  and  others- 
some  of  whom  are  still  living,  as  the  venerable  M.  Fran9ois  Coillard, 
of  the  French  Evangelical  Mission— occur  to  us  instantly.  One  of  the 
native  clergy,  in  an  address  at  a  great  meeting  in  London,  speaking  of 
Bishop  Smythies,  remarked :  "  You  call  him  my  Lord,  but  I  call  him 
my  Father."  Of  the  late  Bishop  Maples,  of  Likoma,  in  Central  Africa, 
one  of  his  colleagues  said :  "  I  never  knew  one  with  a  greater  power  of 
inspiring  love.  He  was  able  to  shake  off  all  European  insularities,  and 
to  be  to  Africans  a  real  brother."  ^  Tlie  late  Rev.  Hugh  Goldie,  of  the 
Scotch  United  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Old  Calabar,  on  the  West  Coast 
of  Africa,  is  another  striking  illustration  of  what  a  missionary  life  means 
to  heathen  society.  The  Rev.  William  Dickie  writes  of  him :  "  We  can- 
not pretend  to  estimate  the  effect  of  a  life  like  that  of  Mr.  Goldie  upon 


1  The  Missionary  Rroiew  of  the  World,  May,  1896,  p.  370. 

2  For  biographical  sketches,  see  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  June, 
1896,  pp.  232-238,  and  The  Review  0/ Missions  (Nashville,  Tennessee),  July,  1897, 
pp.  1-4. 

3  For  a  biographical  sketch  of  Bishop  Maples,  see  Cftttral  Africa,  December, 
1895,  p.  1S5.     Cf.  also  his  biography,  recently  issued. 


1 1] 


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TNE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      63 

the  heathen  people  among  whom  he  lived.  He  was  one  of  the  gentlest 
of  men,  with  a  quiet  enthusiasm  for  souls.  The  impression  which  his 
exalted  piety  made  upon  those  around  him  was  very  deep.  Had  he 
cared  to  speak  of  the  secret  of  his  life,  it  would  have  been  in  the  words 
of  the  Psalmist,  '  Thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great.' " ' 

In  connection  with  work  for  the  soldiers,  especially  in  hospitals, 
during  the  late  war  between  China  and  Japan,  we  have  seen  frequent 
refere.ices  to  the  faithful  ministries  of  one  who 
might  be   called  the   Florence   Nightingale   of  The  Florence  Nightm- 
Japan.     Miss  Eliza  Taicott,  a  missionary  of  the         gaie  of  japan. 
American  Board,  gave  herself  to  service  in  the 
hospitak,  visiting  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  both  of  China  and 
Japan.     Many  a  suffering  soldier  has  been  cheered  and  solaced  by  her 
gentle  presence  and  the  kindly  ministry  of  her  Christian  sympathy. 
An  entirely  new  and  beautiful  aspect  was  given  to  Christianity  in  the 
eyes  of  Japanese  and  Chinese  by  Miss  Talcott's  influence  over  multi- 
tudes of  the  wounded  whom  she  visited.     Chinese  officers  of  high  rank 
have  accorded  her  a  hearty  tribute  of  admiration  for  her  goodness.' 

In  March,  1898,  the  Rev.  Guido  F.  Verbeck,  D.D.,  died  at  Tokyo, 
after  a  period  of  nearly  thirty-nine  years  of  memorable  service  in  Japan. 
He  went  there  in  1859,  and  vith  true  devotion  and  almost  incalculable 
influence  identified  himself  with  the  modem  development  of  Japanese 
civilization  and  culture.  His  work  for  Christianity  was  monimiental, 
while  in  his  personal  influence  and  varied  labors  for  the  public  and  so- 
cial welfare  of  the  people,  his  missionary  life  was  typical  in  its  scope 
and  usefulness.  He  was  one  of  the  translators  of  the  Bible  into  Japa- 
nese, and  at  times  a  trusted  adviser  and  guide  of  the  Government  in  the 
diflicult  task  of  adjusting  itself  to  the  changes  and  responsibilities  of  this 
great  formative  era  of  the  Meiji.  Dr.  H.  N.  Cobb,  in  an  appreciative 
sketch  of  him,  does  not  overrate  his  unique  position  in  the  following 
estimate  of  his  services :  "  When  the  record  of  the  planting  of  Christian- 
ity and  the  development  of  a  new  civilization  in  the  '  Sunrise  Kingdom  ' 
is  fully  and  truthfully  written,  it  is  probable  that  no  name  will  be  found 
more  indissolubly  associated  with  all  that  is  best  and  most  lasti.ig  in  it 
than  his."  » 

*  For  biographical  sketch,  see  The  Missionary  Record,  November,  1895,  p.  310. 
'  A  sketch  of  Miss  Talcott's  experience  is  given  in  Our  Sisters  in  Other  I^nds, 

the  quarterly  publication  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Association  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  England,  for  January,  1896,  p.  63. 

*  Sketches  of  Dr.  Verbeck  will  be  found  in  The  Mission  Field,  April,  1898,  and 
in  The  Christian  Intelligencer,  March  16,  1898. 


*l 


64 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


It  is  impossible,  for  lack  of  space,  to  give  more  than  here  and  there 
an  illustration  of  the  import  of  missionary  example.  There  has  been 
Bom*  recent  tributes  to  ^^  ^^^>  ^  ^^^''C  seems  to  be  periodically,  rather  an 
the  perianal  character  unusual  Outburst  of  criticism  and  disparagement  in 

of  miralonariea  and  the  ,.,  ...  , 

social  value  of  their     Certain  sections  r\  the  public  press  concerning  the 
lives.  life  and  influence  of  missionaries ;  but  over  against 

these  criticisms  have  recently  appeared  many  spontaneous  tributes, 
which  present  an  ever-growing  volume  of  testimony  favorable  to  them, 
from  those  who  have  undoubted  facilities  of  observation,  and  in  whose 
judgment  the  world  will  have  confidence.  It  may  not  be  out  of  place 
to  gather  a  few  of  the  more  recent  of  these  tributes  into  our  pages. 

The  disturbances  in  Turkey  have  drawn  the  attention  of  the  Chris- 
tian  world  to  the  labors  of  resident  American  missionaries.  The 
Hon.  James  Bryce,  M.P.,  in  the  new  edition  of  his  work  on  "  Trans- 
caucasia and  Ararat,"  has  a  cordial  endorsement  of  their  work.^  Sir 
Philip  Currie,  the  British  Ambassador  to  Turkey,  has  written :  "  I  feel 
the  most  sincere  respect  and  admiration  for  the  courage  and  devotion 
shown  by  the  American  missionaries  in  Asia  Minor,  and  it  is  a  conso. 
lation  for  want  of  success  in  other  directions  if  I  have  been  able  to  assist 
them  to  continue  their  labors  in  the  cause  of  religion  and  civilisation."  2 
Mr.  Edward  Wistar,  who  recently  visited  the  interior  of  Armenia  in 
the  interests  of  the  Red  Cross  expedition,  and  there  met  many  of  the 
missionaries,  remarks  concerning  them :  "  They  are  very  tactful,  system- 
atic,  and  efficient  in  their  signally  varied  tasks,  and  as  adherents  to 
apprehended  duty  they  stand  as  examples  in  courage  and  fidelity  worthy 
to  be  known  and  upheld.  .  .  .  Having  already  written  and  said  else- 
where  that  the  American  missionaries  in  Central  Turkey  are  teachers 

^  "  I  cannot  mention  the  American  missionaries  without  a  tribute  to  the  ad- 
mirable work  they  have  done.  They  have  been  the  only  good  influence  that  has 
worked  from  abroad  upon  the  Turkish  Empire.  They  have  shown  great  judgment 
and  tact  in  their  relations  with  the  ancient  Churches  of  the  land,  Orthodox,  Grego- 
rian, Jacobite,  Nestorian,  and  Catholic  They  have  lived  cheerfully  in  the  midst 
not  only  of  hardships,  but  latterly  of  serious  dangers  also.  They  have  been  the  first 
to  bring  the  light  of  education  and  learning  into  these  dark  places,  and  have  rightly 
judged  that  it  was  far  better  to  diffuse  that  light  through  their  schools  than  to  aim 
at  presenting  a  swollen  roll  of  converts.  From  them  alone,  if  we  except  the  British 
consuls,  has  it  been  possible  during  the  last  thirty  years  to  obtain  trustworthy  in- 
formation regarding  what  passes  in  the  interior.  Their  sympathies  have,  of  course, 
been  with  the  cause  of  reform.  But  they  have  most  prudently  done  everything  in 
their  power  to  discourage  any  political  agitation  among  the  subject  Christians,  fore- 
seeing, as  the  event  has  too  terribly  proved,  that  any  such  agitation  would  be  made 
the  pretext  for  massacre."— Bryce,  "  Transcaucasia  and  Ararat,"  pp.  467,  468. 

*  Quoted  in  The  Congregationalist,  October  15,  1896. 


%  k  ■  .L 


THE  DAWN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      56 

of  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  of  submission  to  the  powers  that  be,  I  wish 
now  to  state,  in  controversion  of  statements  recently  made  to  the  con. 
trary  effect,  that  they  are  not  inciters  of  revolution  or  disquiet  amongst 
the  Armenians."  * 

Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  in  the  report  of  his  visit  to  the  Persia  Mission 
of  the  Presbyterian  Board,  in  1896,  speaks  of  the  strong  impress  of  the 
personality  of  missionaries  upon  their  converts,  and  especially  upon 
their  students.  He  quotes  the  late  Dr.  Shedd  as  saying :  "  The  rem- 
iniscences in  which  our  older  graduates  indulge  illustrate  the  truth 
that  the  main  element  in  educational  work  is  the  personal.  Inscribed 
indelibly  in  their  hearts  is  the  personality  of  Mr.  Stoddard,  and  yet  more 
deeply  that  of  Miss  Fiske.  The  strongest  impression  is  the  personal, 
and  that  is  deepest  and  best  in  proportion  as  Christ  lives  in  us.  If  this 
be  true,  one  lesson  is  that  we  must  have  personal  contact  with  the 
pupils,  especially  spiritual  contact."  2  In  another  section  of  the  docu- 
ment Mr.  Speer  speaks  in  high  terms  of  the  personal  character  and 
standing  of  the  American  missionaries  in  Persia,  quoting  the  testimony 
of  distinguished  foreign  residents  with  whom  while  there  he  came  in 
personal  contact.^ 

Captain  Younghusband,  C.  I.  E.,  whose  opinion  cannot  be  said  to 
be  influenced  by  any  blind  admiration  for  the  missionary  idea,  never- 
theless speaks  in  strong  terms  of  the  missionaries  themselves  in  his  vol- 
ume entitled  "  The  Heart  of  a  Continent."  He  closes  his  chapter  on 
"  The  Missionary  Question  in  China  "  with  the  following  affirmation : 
"  That  some  effect  is  being  produced  I  can  vouch  for  from  personal  ex- 


il 


'8 


•  !d 


'  The  Congregationalist,  November  19,  1896. 

*  Report  of  Robert  E.  Speer  on  his  visit  to  the  Persia  Mission,  pp.  41,  42 
(printed  for  the  use  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  1897). 

'  "  In  Persia  the  missionaries  are  held  in  unqualified  respect.  .  .  .  General 
Wagner,  a.:  Austrian  Protestant,  who  is  drill-master  of  the  Persian  Army,  and  close 
to  the  Shah,  said  to  me :  '  "  ly  to  the  Americans,  I  have  seen  the  missionaries 
and  their  work  at  Urumi:  Imas,  Tabriz,  and  Teheran,  and  I  know  them  and 

their  work— it  is  an  angel  v  !'  ...  Sir  Mortimer  Durand,  the  British  Minister, 
and  one  of  the  most  efficient  men  in  the  British  Eastern  service,  said  with  equal 
earnestness  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  speak  too  warmly  of  the  missionaries 
and  the  good  they  do.  And  this  opinion  of  foreigners,  expressed  by  General  Wag- 
ner and  Sir  Mortimer  Durand,  could  be  duplicated  from  the  lips  of  many  native 
governors  and  officials,  and  verified  by  many  incidents  of  our  stay  in  Persia.  Often 
even  those  who  oppose  the  work,  like  the  Amir-i-Nizam,  o;;e  of  the  most  picturesque, 
able,  and  unscrupulous  men  in  Persia,  of  pro- Russian  sympathies,  hold  the  mis- 
sionaries,  to  one  of  whom  at  least  he  is  under  great  obligations,  in  high  esteem."— 
Ibid,,  pp.  63,  64. 


i  % 


M 


66 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


perience.  I  can  testify  to  the  fact  that,  living  quietly  and  unostenta- 
tiously  in  the  interior  of  China,  there  are  men  who,  by  their  lives  of 
noble  self-sacrifice  and  sterling  good,  are  slowly  influencing  those  about 
them— men  who  have  so  influenced  not  only  a  few  but  many  thousands 
of  these  unenthusiastic  Chinese  as  to  cause  them  to  risk  life  itself  for 
their  religion.  And  if  this  good  work  is  going  on,  if  Christians  are 
willing  to  give  up  all  they  hold  most  dear  in  this  life  to  help  others  for- 
ward,  then  is  this  not  worthy  of  support?— not  the  support  of  force,  for 
even  the  missionaries  do  not  desire  that,  but  the  support  afforded  by 
the  encouragement  of  their  fellow-Christians.  The  slothful,  the  igno- 
rant, and  the  foolhardy  may  well  be  criticised,  and  the  missionary  cause 
will  only  be  advanced  if  such  criticism  has  the  effect  of  stirring  them 
to  increased  and  more  discreet  activity.  But  the  true  missionary— the 
man  who  devotes  his  life  to  the  work  of  imparting  to  other  races  the 
religion  from  which  his  own  has  derived  so  much  benefit ;  who  carefully 
trains  himself  for  this  work ;  who  sympathetically  studies  the  religion, 
the  character,  and  the  peculiarities  of  the  people  he  wishes  to  convert ; 
and  who  practically  lives  a  life  which  those  about  him  can  see  to  be 
good— should  be  admired  as  the  highest  type  of  manhood,  and  it  is  h-^ 
for  whom  I  should  wish  to  enlist  the  sympathies  of  my  fellow-co'-  .ly- 
men  in  this  grave  crisis  of  the  missionary  cause."  ^ 

Mr.  T.  R.  Jernigan,  United  States  Consul- General  at  Shanghai,  in 
a  recent  article  on  "  Missionaries  and  Missionary  Work,"  writes  as  fol- 
lows :  "  My  experience  as  a  United  States  official  in  Japan  and  China 
covers  a  period  of  six  years,  and  during  that  time  no  case  has  come 
before  me  for  advice  or  settlement,  involving  directly  or  indirectly  the 
interest  of  the  Christian  Churches,  when  it  has  ever  been  made  to  ap- 
pear that  the  missionaries  were  not  influenced  in  their  conduct  by  the 
highest  principles  of  right  and  humanity.  There  ought  to  be  no  patience 
with  the  sentiment  that  goes  out  to  the  great  outer  worid,  which  is  sepa- 
rated by  the  seas  from  this  ancient  empire,  depreciating  missionaries  and 
missionary  work.  It  is  a  sentiment  that  does  not  commend  those  who 
indulge  in  it,  and  cannot  be  supported  by  evidence  that  would  be  ad- 
missible in  any  court  of  justice."  "  In  every  instance,"  wrote  the  late 
Colonel  Cockerill,  from  Seoul,  Korea,  to  77/.?  New  York  Henud,  "  the 
Koreans  who  have  come  in  contact  with  Christian  teachers  have  been 
bettered.  At  least,  they  lead  cleaner  lives  in  the  physical  and  spiritual 
sense.  .  .  .  Whatever  may  be  said  of  missionaries  in  Japan,  I  will  vouch 

1  Quoted  in  TAe  Ckurck  Missionary  Intelligencer,  August,  1896,  pp.  635,  636. 
«  See  the  entire  article  in  Tht  Chinese  Recorder,  February,  1897,  pp.  51-54.  and 
March,  1897,  pp.  99-ioz. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS       67 


that  no  servant  of  the  Church  is  leading  a  life  of  comfort  here.  When 
I  think  of  well-educated,  refined  women  consigning  themselves  to  this 
doleful,  dirty,  bad-smelling,  absolutely  repulsive  country,  I  am  amazed. 
In  Seoul  the  missionaries  have  clean,  comfortable  homes  inside  the  walls, 
which  usually  shut  out  much  that  is  disagreeable ;  but  no  compound, 
however  well  protected,  can  cut  them  off  from  the  misery  and  wretch- 
edness which  everywhere  abound."  * 

Sir  Charles  A.  Elliott,  late  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal,  in  an 
address  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  in 
1896,  spoke  as  follows :  "  First,  then,  as  to  the  testimony  I  have  to  give 
regarding  the  character  and  life  and  work  of  the  missionaries  in  India. 
It  is  more  than  thirty-nine  years  ago  that  my  acquaintance  with  them 
began.  ...  I  assert  that  their  usefulness  is  second  to  none  among 
the  beneficial  influences  which  have  followed  the  introduction  of  British 
rule  into  India,  and  which,  under  God's  Providence,  are  penetrating  and 
breaking  up  the  darkness  and  superstition  that  are  still  in  the  country. 
No  one  who  is  a  candid  observer,  and  especially  no  people  who  are 
such  keen  judges  of  character  as  the  people  of  India,  can  fail  to  watch 
with  admiration  the  nobility  of  spirit,  the  simplicity  of  life,  and  the 
single-minded  devotion  to  a  high  aim  which  the  missionaries  really  dis- 
play." ^  In  TTie  Cosmopolitan  Mr.  Julfan  Hawthorne  gives  his  impres- 
sion of  the  missionaries  he  met  in  India  during  his  recent  investigations 
into  the  ravages  of  the  famine.  His  report  is  frankly  appreciative,  and 
leaves  no  doubt  upon  the  minds  of  his  readers  that  he  discovered  genu- 
ine worth  in  missionaries  and  a  profound  humanitarian  value  in  their  work.' 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  the  far-off  Islands  of  the  Pacific,  where 
the  work  of  missionaries  rarely  falls  under  the  observation  of  European 
travellers,  testimony  concerning  the  excellence  of 
their  lives  and  the  value  of  their  labors  is  not  want-  word»  of  appreciation 

; J   ii.   i    •  ,  from  unbiasaed 

ing,  and  that  m  some  instances  it  comes  from  obiervera. 

unlooked-for  sources.  The  late  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  has  spoken  several  times  emphatically  on  this  subject,  and  in 
his  volume  entitled  "  In  the  South  Seas,"  has  much  to  say  about  mis- 
sions. The  following  extracts  are  typical  of  the  spirit  in  which  he 
writes.  He  says:  "Those  who  have  a  taste  for  hearing  missions, 
Protestant  or  CathoUc,  decried,  must  seek  their  pleasure  elsewhere 
than  in  my  pages."  *  In  one  of  his  "  Vailima  Letters  "  he  speaks  of  the 

*  Quoted  in  The  Gospel  in  all  Lands,  January,  1896,  p.  39. 

*  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  June,  1896,  p.  443. 
»  The  Cosmopolitan,  September,  1897,  pp.  517,  518. 

*  "  In  the  South  Seas,"  p.  89. 


I     ■ 


58 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Rev,  James  Chalmers  (L.  M.  S.),  of  New  Guinea, as  the  "most  attractive, 
simple,  brave,  and  interesting  man  in  the  whole  Pacific." '  Mr.  Lduii 
Recke  has  written  also  in  appreciative  terms,  in  one  of  his  novels  of  South 
Sea  life,  concerning  the  influence  and  services  of  the  Rev.  Francis  E. 
Lawes,  a  well-known  missionary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  on 
the  Island  of  Niue.'  Dr.  Lamberto  Loria,  of  Florence,  an  lulian 
scientist,  who  has  spent  seven  years  in  British  New  Guinea,  has  written 
a  cordial  letter  to  the  London  Missionary  Society,  expressing  his  high 
estimate  of  the  services  of  its  missionaries  in  that  island.  He  con- 
fesses to  have  gone  there  with  a  prejudice  against  all  mission  work, 
but  his  letter  shows  conclusively  that  he  has  recognized  with  candor 
and  sincere  feeling  the  beneficent  influence  of  that  work  as  it  fell  under 
his  observation  during  his  stay.  He  acknowledges  that  his  opin- 
ion upon  the  subject  has  entirely  changed.'  "  It  was  the  missionaries 
chiefly,"  writes  Mr.  Burleigh  in  his  recent  volume,  "  who  made  Mada- 
gascar possible  for  foreigners  to  live  in  with  safety.     Within  fifty  years 

1  "  Vailima  Letters,"  vol.  j.,  p.  82.  During  his  visit  to  Scotland,  in  1895, 
"  the  freedom  of  the  royal  burgh  of  Inverary  "  was  presented  to  Mr.  Chalmers  in 
recognition  of  "  his  career  as  a  missionary  and  his  eminent  services  in  the  cause  of 
civilisation  and  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  among  the  heathen."— TAr  Missionary 
Record,  October,  1895,  p.  299. 

'  "  At  Alofi  (one  of  the  principal  towns  in  Niud)  there  also  lives  the  one  white 
missionary,— the  Rev.  Frank  Lawes,  of  the  L.  M.  S.,— the  most  loved  and  respected 
man  in  the  South  Seas.  For  nearly  thirty  years  he  and  his  wife  have  lived  and 
toiled  on  Savage  Island.  I  say '  toiled,'  for  his  indeed  has  been  a  life  of  real,  hard, 
unceasing  toil,  and  his  personal  influence  and  example  alone  have  reclaimed  the 
Savage  Islanders  from  their  former  savagery  and  debasing  customs."— Quoted  in 
Tht  Independent  and  Nonconformist,  September  23,  1 897. 

»  His  letter  is  published  in  full  in  The  Chronicle,  February,  1897,  pp.  37-40. 
He  thus  expresses  himself  with  reference  to  one  of  the  missionaries  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society:  "  Before  closing,  I  wish  to  s.iy  a  few  more  words  about  Mrs. 
Abel.  From  what  precedes,  you  may  have  a  faint  conception  of  her  singularly 
happy  influence  at  Kwato.  It  is  impossible,  however,  that  you  can  understand  it 
fully.  Only  those  who  lived  at  Kwato  for  months  can  appreciate  her  and  her  work 
M.  its  real  worth.  In  a  community  where  women  are  despised  she  is  beloved, 
esteemed,  respected  as  Mr.  Abel,  not  to  say  more.  Her  wishes  are  commands, 
and  even  the  natives  are  influenced  by  her  sweet  good  nature.  Her  influence  is 
not  confined  to  Papuans,  but  extends  even  to  the  white  population.  I,  for  my  part, 
have  to  acknowledge  that  I  am  going  home  a  better  man  than  when  I  left  Europe, 
and  I  am  indebted  for  this  entirely  and  solely  to  her  influence.  Happy  are  the 
persons  who  possess  enough  nobleness  in  their  hearts  to  appreciate  her  qualities. 
I  cannot  finish  this  paper  in  a  better  way  than  by  hoping  that  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society  may  have  the  benefit  of  the  services  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abel  for  many 
years  to  come,  and  that  they  may  have  health  and  strength  to  carry  on  their  great 
work." 


i.iA 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  Iff  MISSIONS       60 

they  achieved  wonders.  Civilisation  had  followed  their  steps  and  was 
dawning  into  day.  .  .  .  They  worked,  and  verily  never  had  men  so 
great  a  reward,  for  their  success  was  abundant."  * 

Captain  W.  H.  Manning,  \aXi  in  command  of  the  British  forces  in 
Central  Africa,  thus  writes  of  his  contact  with  missionary  service :  "  I 
have  not  touched  on  the  work  of  the  mission  among  the  natives  of  the 
Shir6  Highlands,  and  I  feel  I  can  very  inadequately  express  my  admi  a- 
tion.  First  you  must  see  the  negro  boy  in  his  savage  state,  and  then 
see  the  finished  article  as  turned  out  by  the  Blantyre  Mission,  and  I 
think  you  will  say  that  truly  the  thing  is  little  short  of  marvellous— from 
a  wild,  unkempt,  savage  urchin,  with  a  rag  for  a  wardrobe,  to  a  pleas- 
ant, self-possessed  lad,  who  dresses  in  spotless  white  garments,  can  read 
and  write  English,  and  conducts  himself  with  quiet  decorum.  To  ob- 
tain such  results,  of  course,  means  days  of  patient  teaching  and  example, 
in  a  climate  at  times  trying  in  the  extreme,  but  nevertheless  carried  on 
unostentatiously  to  the  end.  The  benefit  that  the  Scotch  Mission  has 
conferred  on  the  Shir^  Highlands  is  incalculable."  -  Commissioner  Sir 
Harry  H.  Johnston  has  written  of  missions  in  the  same  locality,  as  fol- 
lows: "  Is  it  of  no  account,  do  you  think,  is  it  productive  of  no  good 
effect  in  the  present  state  of  Africa,  that  certain  of  our  fellow-country- 
men—or women— possessed  of  at  least  an  elementary  education,  and 
impelled  by  no  greed  of  gain  or  unworthy  motive — should  voluntarily 
locate  themselves  in  the  wild  parts  of  this  undeveloped  quarter  of  the 
globe,  and,  by  the  very  fact  that  they  live  in  a  European  manner,  in  a 
house  of  Eiuropean  style,  siurounded  by  European  implements,  products, 
and  adornments,  should  open  the  eyes  of  th:;  brutish  savages  to  the 
existence  of  a  higher  state  of  culture,  and  prepare  them  for  the  approach 
of  civilisation?  I  am  sure  my  readers  will  agree  with  me  that  it  is  as 
the  preparer  of  the  white  man's  advent,  as  the  mediator  between  the 
barbarian  native  and  the  invading  race  of  rulers,  colonists,  or  traders,  that 
the  missionary  earns  his  chief  right  to  our  consideration  and  support. 
He  constitutes  himself  informally  the  tribune  of  the  weaker  race,  and 
though  he  may  sometimes  be  open  to  the  charges  of  indiscretion,  exag- 
geration, and  partiality  in  his  support  of  his  dusky-skinned  clients'  claims, 
yet  without  doubt  he  has  rendered  real  services  lO  humanity  in  drawing 
extra-colonial  attention  to  many  a  cruel  abuse  of  power,  and  by  check- 
ing the  ruthless  proceedings  of  the  unscrupulous  pioneers  of  the  white 

1  Quoted  in  a  review  of  "  Two  Campaigns— Madagascar  and  Ashantee,"  in  Tht 
Sptetator,  London,  September  19,  1896,  p.  374. 

*  Thi  Church  of  Scotland  Home  and  Foreign  Mission  Record,  September,  1896, 
pp.  281,  383. 


•0 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGXESS 


I      i 
I      I 


lorn*  tistimonica  to  tht 

value  ol  miMlonary 

•xampit  from  nativ* 

■ourcat. 


invuion."  >  Another  remarkable  testimony  to  the  value  of  miuiont  in 
Africa  is  from  the  pen  of  a  German  military  officer,  Lieutenant  von 
Fran9ois,  in  his  recently  published  volume  on  "  The  Nama  and  Damaia 
in  German  South- West  Africa." ''  A  further  reference  to  the  work  of 
missionaries  in  Africa  will  be  found  in  Dr.  R.  N.  Cust'i  recent  volume, 
"  I'he  Gospel  Message,"  in  the  form  of  an  address  entitled  "  Missionary 
Heroes  in  Africa,"  delivered  at  Steinway  Hall,  London.' 

We  need  not  confine  our  quotations,  however,  to  the  words  of  for- 
eign  visitors  or  residents.  There  are  testimonies  also  from  natives  of 
distinction,  who,  in  some  instances,  are  not  them- 
selves converts  to  Christianity,  but  who  have  eyes  to 
see  the  truth  concerning  the  character  and  example 
of  missionaries.  A  Japanese  scholar,  in  an  article  on 
"  The  Ethical  Life  and  Conceptions  of  the  Japanese,"  has  referred  to 
the  power  of  missionary  example  in  terms  which  are  well  worth  quoting. 
"The  missionaries,"  he  writes,  "have  lived  good,  honest  lives,  and 
been  careful  not  to  give  occasion  for  scandal ;  the  native  Christians,  as 
a  rule,  have  in  their  lives  been  consistent  with  their  profession.  All 
this  has  been  an  object-lesson  to  the  people  around  them.  Besides, 
during  this  epoch  of  revolutionary  change,  when  the  old  structures  of 
society  were  crumbling  on  all  sides,  when  many  young  men  openly  pro- 
claimed that  to  free  themselves  from  all  restraints  of  morality  was  a 
mark  of  enlightenment,  and  when,  moreover,  the  idea  prevailed  that 

1  Johnston,  "  British  Central  Africa,"  p.  205. 

*  "  What  merchants,  artisans,  and  men  of  science  have  done  for  the  openini; 
up  and  civilising  of  this  country  is  as  nothing  in  the  balance  compared  with  the  posi- 
tive results  of  missionary  work.  And  this  work  means  so  much  the  more,  because 
all  self-regarding  motives,  such  as  always  inspire  the  trader  or  the  discoverer,  and 
are  to  be  found  even  in  the  soldier,  are  absent  in  the  missionary.  It  must  be  an 
exalted  impulse  which  leads  the  missionary  to  give  up  comfort,  opportunities  of  ad- 
vancement, honour,  and  fame,  for  the  sake  of  realising  the  idea  of  bringing  humanity 
into  the  kingdom  of  God,  into  sonship  to  God,  and  to  instil  into  the  soul  of  a  red  or 
black  man  the  mystery  of  the  love  of  God.  Self-interest  is  put  aside,  and  the  mis- 
sionary becomes  a  Nama  or  a  Herero.  He  gives  continually  from  the  inner  treas- 
ure of  his  spiritual  life  and  knowledge.  In  order  to  be  able  to  do  that,  however, 
he  must  unweariedly  play  now  the  artisan,  now  the  farmer,  now  the  architect ;  he 
must  always  give  presents,  teaching,  improvements,  never  take;  he  must  not  even 
expect  that  his  self-sacrifice  will  be  understood.  And  to  do  this  for  years,  decades 
even,  that  truly  requires  more  than  human  power ;  and  the  average  mind  of  the 
European  adventurer,  hardened  in  self-valuation  and  self-seeking,  cannot  under- 
stand it.  I  used  not  to  be  able  to  understand  it ;  you  must  have  seen  it  to  be  able 
to  understand  and  admire."— Quoted  from  iYit  Allgemeine  Missiom-Zeitsehri/t,  in 
The  Chronicle,  August,  1896,  p.  191. 

»  Cust,  "  The  Gospel  Message,"  pp.  45-53- 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  Iff  MISSIONS      61 

there  existed  no  morality  in  Europe  and  America,  and  that  thote  coun- 
tries were  powerful  only  because  they  had  superior  military  e<iuipments— 
during  this  time  of  transition,  I  say,  it  was  a  very  great  and  noteworthy 
thing  that  there  should  be  these  men  and  women  from  the  Far  West 
to  represent  to  us  the  ethical  and  spiritual  side  of  their  civilization.  By 
their  very  presence  they  reminded  us  of  the  importance  of  morality 
and  rehgion  in  the  life  of  a  nation.  In  this  respect  their  silent,  uncon- 
scious influence  was  beyond  all  estimation.  I  have  no  doubt  that  with 
the  further  progress  of  Christianity  in  Japan,  and  the  consequent  more 
perfect  adaptation  of  its  teachings  to  the  need  of  the  people,  it  is 
destined  to  exercise  a  yet  more  thoroughgoing  influence  in  the  develop- 
ment of  our  ethical  thought."  * 

The  lamented  death  of  Mrs.  Calvin  W.  Mateer,  of  the  American  Pres- 
byterian Mission,  at  Tungchow,  in  February,  1898,  after  many  years  of 
missionary  service,  called  forth  a  tribute  of  love  and  reverence  from  the 
native  community,  which  was  remarkable  in  its  spontaneity  and  sii:cer- 
ity.  In  a  tablet  prepared  in  her  honor  and  presented  on  her  sixtieth 
birthday,  she  is  described  as  a  "  venerable,  nourishing  mother  of  heroes."' 

In  a  recent  number  of  The  Times  of  India  was  published  an  extract 
from  a  Ic'r  ^f  Tahil  Ram  Gunja  Ram,  M.  R.  A.  S.,  a  zemindar  of  Dera 
Ismail  K'  ,  in  the  Punjab,  and  a  Fellow  of  the  Imperial  Institute, 
London,  xie  refers  to  the  beneficial  inflr  «*  of  Christian  mission- 
aries in  terms  of  appreciation  and  gratitude.-"  nother  remarkable 
tribute  to  missionaries  is  from  the  pen  of  a  Brahman,    .1.  V.  Nagam  Iyer, 


n 


1  Tokiwo  Vokoi,  of  Tokyo,  in  Inttmational  Journal  of  Ethics,  January,  1896, 
pp.  300,  301. 

*  Woman's  Work  for  Woman,  June,  1898,  p.  143. 

'  "  Whatever  differences  in  some  theological  doctrines  and  dogmas  may  exist 
between  Christianity  and  the  Arya  Somaj,  the  enlightened  Hinduism,  it  would  be 
the  meanest  ingratitude  if  I,  in  common  with  my  countrymen,  did  not  feet  grateful 
in  the  fullest  possible  way  to  the  Christian  missionary  '  >  cieties  for  the  good  tbey 
have  done  to  India.  These  Christian  missionaries  have  '  .'en  the  pioneers  of  every 
reform,  whether  it  be  religious,  social,  or  moral.  With  '  the  aid  of  the  Christian 
missionary  societies  the  Indian  Government  would  never  have  been  able  to  do  even 
a  tenth  part  of  what  has  been  done  for  India.  It  was  pious  Christian  missionaries 
like  Drs.  Duff,  Wilson,  and  Forman,  whom  the  Indians  up  to  this  time  revere 
most  respectfully,  who  first  established  colleges  for  the  education  of  Indians.  It 
was  the  pious  Christian  missionaries  who  first  opened  female  schools,  medical 
hospitals,  and  shelters  for  the  Hindu  widows  who  are  so  much  maltreated  by  Hindu 
society.  Though  myself  a  staunch  Arya  Somajist  by  religion,  yet  I  say  with  double 
force  that  no  agency  has  benefited  India  so  much  as  the  Christian  missionary  socie- 
ties."—Quoted  in  The  Zenana,  April,  1896,  p.  90.  The  letter  wm  originally  pub- 
lished in  Tht  Morning  Post,  Allahabad,  January  4,  1896. 


83 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


In  his  chapter  on  education,  In  the  census  report  of  Travancore.'  In 
Thf  flaliKhislan  Gaz/tte,  the  proprietor  of  which  is  a  Paril,  appeared 
not  long  ago  a  striking  article  upon  missionary  work,  which  says: 
"  The  mission  labor,  both  in  the  cause  of  education  as  well  as  physical 
relief,  is  eminently  superior  and  more  effective  than  that  supplied  by 
Government.  The  mission  work,  no  matter  wnere  or  among  whom  it 
is  done,  has  a  moral  element  which  is  Doth  soothing  and  instructive. 
The  missionaries  are  the  bearers  of  that  Great  Truth  which  cannot  fail 
to  enter  and  enlighten  the  darkest  mind  and  soften  the  hardest  heart, 
and  it  is  in  this  that  the  success  of  mission  labor  lies."  < 


I    I 


VII 


Still  another  point  at  which  missions  impinge  with  moral  power  upon 

both  the  political  and  social  life  of  lands  where  they  have  been  es- 

Th.  i„flu.„c.  of  m...    t^blished,  is  exemplified  by  the  stitnvV     '    y  give 

■ioni  In  Introducing     m  the  direction  of  new  national  aspira    ^ns  and 

* "uoVi^ndl,' u" °"  *"'8^"  '^"'*  °^  government.  The  new  patriotism 
of  India,  in  contradistinction  to  the  old,  inspired 
as  it  is  with  Christian  sentiments  and  ideals  rather  than  with  the  degen- 
erate notions  and  fantastic  conceits  of  Hinduism,  is  the  fruit  of  missions. 
A  truer  conception  of  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  legislation  and  of  the 
supreme  function  of  law  is  slowly  but  steadily  securing  recognition. 
The  first  principle  of  justice— namely,  the  equality  of  all  men  before 
the  law— is  beginning  to  emerge  from  the  obscurity  into  which  it  has 
been  consigned  by  the  edict  of  caste.  The  era  of  .•social  tyranny  in 
India  has  been  long  and  dark,  but  a  new  standard  is  now  gradually 
evolving,  and  men  are  beginning  to  take  their  place  in  society  on  the 
basis  of  manhood,  as  heirs  of  that  liberty  which  Christianity  recognizes 
as  theirs  by  right  of  birth  in  God's  likeness.  Happily,  the  evidence 
accumulates  on  all  sides,  attesting  the  influence  of  missions  in  over- 

»  "  By  the  unceasing  efforts  and  self-denying  earnestness  of  the  learned  body  of 
Christian  missionaries  in  the  country,  the  large  community  of  native  Christians  is 
rapidly  advancing  in  its  moral,  intellectual,  and  material  condition.  ...  But  for 
these  missionaries  the  humble  orders  of  Hindu  society  would  forever  remain  un- 
raised.  .  .  .  The  heroism  of  raising  the  low  from  the  slough  of  degradation  and 
debasement  was  an  aspect  of  civilization  unknown  to  ancient  India.  ...  I  do  not 
think  the  Brahmans  or  even  the  high-caste  non-Brahmans  can  claim  this  credit." 
—Quoted  in  The  Missionary  Herald,  October,  1895,  p.  391. 

»  Quoted  in  Regions  Beyond,  June,  1894,  p.  224. 


THE  DAWS  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  EJtA  IN  .    .'SSIOATS      63 

throwing  and   making   odiout  the   long-prevalent   reign   of  social 
despotism.* 

The  very  idea  of  nationality  has  come  to  the  educated  and  enlight- 
ened mind  of  India  under  the  auspices  of  Christianity.'  It  is  the  judg- 
ment of  Professor  Max  MUUer  that  "  the  Indian  never  knew  the  feeling 
of  nationality."  He  is  grasping  it  now  in  a  large  and  comprehensive 
sense,  which  in  time  must  result  in  the  moulding  of  a  great  nation  by 
the  fusion  of  numerous  tribes  and  races  on  the  basis  of  human  brother- 
hood, as  well  as  in  community  of  interest.  In  some  instances  a  revived 
and  progressive  life  has  been  given  to  tribes  and  peoples  as  a  whole, 
through  the  entrance  of  missions.  The  Rev.  J.  M.  Macphail,  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  Mission  in  Bengal,  mentions  the  Santals  as  "a 
people  owing  their  social  salvatiot  to  Christian  missions."  He  states 
that  they  were  "  entirely  uneducated  and  illiterate  forty  years  ago,  and 
would  probably  soon  have  been  merged  into  Hinduism,  but  under 
the  influence  of  mission  work  they  have  maintained  their  independence, 
and  have  made  very  rapid  strides  in  civilization."  He  mentions  also 
the  Khasis,  in  the  hills  of  Assam,  who  "  fifty  years  ago  were  among  the 
wildest  of  warlike  tribes,  but  are  now  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and 
progressive."  Similar  statements  are  made  concerning  "  the  long  down- 
trodden Pariahs  in  the  south,  who  seem  at  last  to  be  asserting  their  man- 
liood,  and  the  Mangs,  in  the  Deccan,  who  are  also  being  rescued  from 
a  position  of  degradation."     This  is  valuable  testimony,  as  it  shows  that 

1  The  Rev.  T.  E.  Slater,  of  the  London  Miiiionary  Society,  remarked  in  • 
lecture  delivered  before  the  Indian  National  Congress  at  Madras,  in  December, 
1887:  "And  so  Christ's  new  idea  has  brought  about  •  marvellous  revolution  in 
social  and  political  relations.  Where  it  is  allowed  full  play,  partiality  and  class 
legislation  are  forever  doomed ;  there  will  not  be  one  law  for  the  rich  and  another 
for  the  poor,  but  the  interests  of  the  entire  community  will  be  the  object  sought. 
Wherever  Christianity  is  a  living  force,  social  wrongs  must  be  redressed,  despotic 
power  and  oppressive  institutions  abolished,  and  law  administered  and  life  protected 
with  even-handed  justice." 

'  This  is  true  in  a  measure  of  other  countries  than  India.  The  educational 
results  of  Robert  College  have  done  much  for  Bulgarian  national  consciousness. 
Upon  this  point  a  missionary  writes  :  "  The  graduates  of  Robert  College  are  men 
of  power  in  Bulgaria,  and  it  has  *  een  said  that  the  country  owes  its  national  exis- 
tence to  that  institution.  A  striki  proot  of  the  results  of  the  agencies  referred  to 
among  the  Bulgarians  can  be  fou  .d  by  a  comparison  of  that  nation  with  adjacent 
nations  among  whom  no  mission  work  has  been  done.  The  Bulgarians  will  be  seen 
tu  be  far  superior  in  intelligence  and  character.  This  may  be  partly  due  to  differ- 
ences in  racial  characteristics,  but  the  fact  remains  that  the  history  of  Bulgaria  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty-five  years  has  been  a  marked  contrast  to  that  of  the  nations 
adjoining."— Miss  Mary  M.  Patrick  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Constantinople,  Turkey. 


li 


Mi 


64 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


I      I 


»    i 


!  \ 


Christianity  has  a  tendency  to  save  and  elevate  barbarous  tribes  and 
peoples  as  a  whole,  while  mere  external  civilization,  when  imposed  by 
superior  races,  interested  more  in  commerce  than  in  evangelism,  has 
rather  the  opposite  effect.* 

A  striking  illustration  of  the  lesson  Christianity  teaches  as  to  the  re- 
lation of  human  government  to  the  divine  sovereignty  is  supplied  in  the 
address,  before  referred  to,  of  the  late  Queen  of 
The  late  Queen  of  M«-  Manua,  in  the  Samoan  Islands.  The  occasion  was 
°";rchrutr.'n '"ur."'  the  dedication  of  a  church  at  the  capital  town.  It 
is  full  of  hearty  ascriptions  of  praise  to  God,  and 
dutifully  acknowledges  His  mercies  to  her  people.  Continuing,  she 
says :  "  We  think  much  of  our  kingdom  and  government.  We  know 
we  are  respected  and  take  our  place  among  the  peoples  of  the  earth ; 
yet  our  kingdom  is  as  nothing  before  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  That  is 
the  one  kingdom  which  shall  never  pass  away,  a  kingdom  of  kingdoms. 
'  Blessed  is  the  people  whose  God  is  the  Lora '  was  the  message  given 
us  by  the  missionary  several  days  ago,  and  how  true  that  is  we  know. 
It  is  not  outward  display  that  shows  the  real  prosperity  of  a  people,  but 
it  is  those  people  who  give  to  Christ  their  hearts,  and  live  godly  lives, 
who  shall  be  truly  blessed,  and  who  shall  know  true  prosperity."  2 

The  tesdmony  of  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Newell  (L.  M.  S.),  of  the  Malua 
Institution,  Samoa,  as  to  the  happy  history  of  this  isolated  group  is 
especially  significant.  He  writes  as  follows:  "What  Christianity 
might  have  done  for  the  whole  of  Samoa  if  political  unity  had  been 
established,  may  be  imagined  from  the  condition  of  a  portion  of  the 
islands.  The  small  group  of  Manua— the  most  easterly  of  the  Samoan 
Archipelago— has  been  able  hitherto  to  maintain  its  political  indepen- 
dence. Fortunately,  its  people  have  been  for  the  past  fifty  years  united 
under  one  chief;  and  since  the  introduction  of  Christianity  their 
government  has  been  Christian,  and  they  have  maintained  religious 
unity.  No  sectarian  divisions  have  been  allowed  to  take  root  there. 
They  are  a  prosperous,  healthy,  contented  people,  who  have  been  able 

1  Instances  of  this  are  given  in  Kidd's  "  Social  Evolution,"  in  his  chapter  on 
"  The  Conditions  of  Human  Progress." 

2  The  Chronicle,  September,  1895,  p.  231;  quoted  also  in  T'lt  Missionary 
Herald,  December,  1895,  p.  513. 

The  death  of  this  good  young  Queen  of  Manua  is  reported  in  The  Chronicle  of 
February,  1896,  p.  46.  She  was  a  sincere  Christian,  and  had  a  singularly  noble 
desire  to  govern  as  a  Christian  ruler  and  promote  the  higher  spiritual  welfare  of  her 
people.  It  seemed  to  her  a  cause  of  profound  gratitude  that  Christianity  had  come 
to  her  realm,  and  she  found  much  happiness  in  giving  every  facility  to  miisionarv 
work. 


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THE  DAWN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL   ERA   IN  MISSIONS       05 

to  maintain  peace  and  unity  without  any  foreign  interference  or  aid. 
Their  morality  is  not  perfect,  and  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  has  much 
yet  to  teach  them ;  but  they  are  an  essentially  Christian  people  in 
morals  and  religion,  and  the  most  striking  result  is  that  obtained  in  their 
social  life."  Chrisiianity  has  thus  proved  not  simply  an  individual  and 
social,  but  even  a  national,  blessing  where  it  has  been  received  by  a 
people  and  made  the  basis  of  common  faith  and  the  rule  of  communal 
life.» 


if 


M 


VIII 


From  what  has  been  said,  is  it  not  obvious  that  a  new  significance  has 
been  given  to  missions,  as  instrumental  in  laying  the  foundations  of  a 
new  social  order,  touching  as  they  do,  both  directly 
and  indirectly,  the  deepest  springs  of  the  world's  ''''*  **""'''  "^  «ni«iion«  in 

,  t    »u      t:<      1-  1.   1  laying  the  foundation* 

progress?  We  who  speak  the  English  language  of » new lodai order, 
and  cherish  in  our  hearts  the  inspiration  of  centuries 
of  English  culture  and  progress— do  we  realize,  as  English-speaking  peo- 
ple, .;ic  fontal  relationship  which  the  stimulus  of  early  missions  bears  to 
our  )sequent  growth,  progress,  and  world-wide  achievement  as  a  race  ? 
Columba,  Augustine,  Aidan,  Paulinus,  Cuthbert,  and  others  like  them, 
were  among  the  first  messengers  of  Christianity  to  our  ancestors.  They 
entered  upon  a  long  and  serious  conflict ;  yet  how  truly  they  worked 
for  the  making  of  the  most  superb  forces  of  the  modern  world  we  can 
but  faintly  realize.^  In  their  influence  upon  non-Christian  society 
modem  missions  are  as  yet  perhaps  quite  as  much  destructive  as  con- 
structive in  their  results.  All  through  the  Oriental  as  distinguished 
from  the  Occidental  world,  we  see  the  signs  of  intellectual  and  moral 
awakening.  An  era  of  spiritual  discovery  has  come, — a  period  of  re- 
ligious questionings,  of  painful  heart-searchings,  of  wistful  longings,  and 
desperate  wrestlings  with  an  overshadowing  and  dominant  past.     As 

1  On  the  power  of  Christianity  to  weld  into  unity  of  spirit  conflicting  races,  see 
article  by  the  Rev.  K.  S.  Macdonald,  D.D.,  in  The  Indian  Evangelical  Review, 
July,  1887,  pp.  s-27. 

2  Mr.  J.  R.  Green,  in  his  "  Short  History  of  the  English  People,"  referring  to 
the  early  missionary  era  in  Northumbria,  says:  "  By  its  missionaries  and  by  its 
sword  it  had  won  England  from  heathendom  to  the  Christian  Church.  It  had  given 
her  a  new  poetic  literature.  Its  monasteries  were  already  the  seat  of  whatever  in- 
tellectnal  life  the  country  possessed.  Above  all,  it  had  been  the  first  to  gather 
together  into  a  loose  political  unity  the  various  tribes  of  the  English  people,  and  by 
standing  at  their  head  for  nearly  a  century  to  accustom  them  to  a  national  life,  oat 
of  which  England,  as  we  have  it  now,  was  to  spring  "  (pp.  69,  70). 


m 


s    K 


06 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Dean  Church  has  finely  said  concerning  the  passing  of  ancient  R  iman 
civilization :  "  When  ...  it  went  to  pieces,  rotten  within  and  battered 
by  the  storms  without,  it  was  a  portent  and  calamity  which  the  human 
imagination  had  almost  refused  to  believe  possible.  It  was  indeed  the 
foundering  of  a  world."  * 

So  we  may  say  with  reference  to  the  upheavals  produced  by  Christian 
missions  in  contemporary  heathenism.  An  era  of  struggle  is  at  hand. 
Christianity,  true  to  its  own  Master,  has  come  "  not  to  bring  peace,  but  a 
sword."  It  works  by  a  process  of  slow  intellectual,  spiritual,  and  social 
martyrdom.  It  enters  the  inner  heart-life  through  dazed  sensibilities 
and  torn  affections.  Its  convictions  are  often  revolutionary.  Myths, 
superstitions,  ceremonies,  dreams,  aspirations,  and  customs— in  fact, 
most  of  the  cherished  ideals  of  the  past— are  doomed.  This  is  natural, 
indeed  inevitable,  as  an  accompaniment  of  any  serious  effort  to  escape 
from  those  retrogressive  forces  which  have  held  dominion  in  the  past, 
and  have  so  long  re»Tded  the  moral  development  of  society.  Nothing 
can  be  more  interesfiip  and  touching  to  a  sympathetic  student  of  human 
progress  than  the  phenomena  which  accompany  the  awakening  of 
races  just  emerging  from  barbarism  to  the  consciousness  of  the  larger 
knowledge,  the  nobler  morality,  and  the  higher  destiny  which  Christian 
civilization  offers.  It  is  like  God's  voice  saying  after  long  ages  of  dark- 
ness, "  Let  there  be  light."  It  is  the  sign  of  a  new  creative  era  in  social 
history,  in  contradistinction  to  the  long,  uneventful  periods  of  primitive 
savagery. 

But  enthusiasm  must  needs  be  on  its  guard  against  the  expectation 
of  accomplishing  these  reforms  without  meeting  with  checks,  and  occa- 
sionally seeming  to  fail.     An  era  of  such  trans- 
confiict  the  Inevitable  formation  can  hardly  be  entered  upon  without  a 
price  of  victory.       conscientious  Struggle  with   dominant  religious, 
social,  and  political  power.     Tlie  Reformation  was 
a  period  of  conflicts.     The  eariy  struggles  of  Christianity  with  pagan 
Rome  were  sharp  and  terrible.     The  Huguenots  and  Puritans  were 
soldiers  of  conscience.     The  victories  of  religious  history  must  be  re- 
peated in  the  experience  of  diristian  missions.     We  may  yet  have 
exiles  for  conscience'  sake  from  non-Christian  lands  to  found  new  com- 
monwealths for  God  and  humanity.     The  one  great  reigning  word  in 
Oriental  history,  and  throughout  the  realms  of  savagery,  is  despotism. 
All  national,  religious,  and  social  experience  is  steeped  in  it.     Even  an- 
cient republics  were  oligarchic  in  practice,  and  there  is  little  hope  that 
the  spell  of  this  monstrous  usurpation  will  ever  be  broken,  except  as  the 
I  "  The  Gifts  of  Civilisation,"  p.  128, 


WUl. 


t  , 


THE  DAWN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS       67 

enlightened  conscience,  aroused  and  fortified  by  religious  faith,  bids 
defiance  to  it,  and  leads  in  the  conflict  for  its  overthrow.  Liberty,  and 
in  a  large  sense  true  civilization,  have  been  born  not  of  philosophy,  or 
of  natural  or  ethnic  religious  systems,  nor  have  they  come  with  material 
progress.  They  have  been  the  product  of  a  religious  faith  instructed 
and  inspired  by  God's  Word,  and  filled  with  the  courage  and  moral 
heroism  which  spiritual  contact  with  Christ  can  give. 

"  Freedom  is  re-created  year  by  year, 
In  hearts  wide  open  on  the  Godward  side, 
In  souls  calm-cadenced  as  the  whirling  sphere, 
In  minds  that  sway  the  future  like  a  tide. 
No  broadest  creeds  can  hold  her,  and  no  codes ; 
She  chooses  men  for  her  august  abodes, 
Building  them  fair  and  fronting  to  the  dawn." 


Let  us  not  be  alarmed  if  Christianity  creates  problems  and  stirs  up 
conflicts  in  foreign  society.  This  is  no  reason  for  abandoning  missions. 
The  cry  that  they  should  be  given  up  if  they  make  trouble  in  heathen 
society  is  about  as  absiu-d  as  to  call  upon  us  to  give  up  the  Christian 
religion  because  it  antagonizes  the  evils  of  the  world  and  refuses  to 
tolerate  sin. 

The  achievements  of  missions  in  laying  anew  the  foundatiuns  of  a 
better  social  order  havt  been  accomplished,  let  it  be  noted,  in  spite  of 
the  counteracting  influence  and  demoralizing  ex- 
ample of  degenerate  and  reckless  foreign  traders      ^he  moral  value  of 

'  ..11         .1         -ii        missions  as  sponsors  of 

and  adventurers,  who  stand  side  by  side  with  the  true  civilization, 
missionary  all  through  the  non-Christian  world. 
Do  we  realize  the  immense  service  of  missions  as  a  defender  of  the  spirit 
and  an  apologist  for  the  moral  integrity  of  true  civilization  as  distin- 
guished from  false  ?  If  the  typical  foreign  resident,  in  his  usual  Orien- 
tal environment  of  unrestrained  license,  had  been  the  only  representative 
of  civilization  and  the  only  e.xeniplification  of  supposed  Christianity, 
the  influence  of  his  life  would  have  been  to  the  discredit  of  Christendom 
and  a  distinct  check  to  the  moral  progress  of  the  world.  Commissioner 
Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  in  his  recent  volume,  has  characterized  in  a  few 
burning  sentences  probably  the  worst  type  of  the  average  European 
trader,  pioneer,  and  adventurer  in  Central  Africa.  The  description 
need  not  be  localized ;  it  is  applicable  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  continent.  "  They  are  aggressively  ungodly,"  he  writes ; 
"  they  put  no  check  on  their  lusts ;  released  from  the  restraints  of  civi- 
lisation and  the  terrors  of  '  what  people  may  say,'  they  are  capable  of 


i  . 


U 


\\ 


■If 

if!' 


68 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


almost  any  degree  of  wickedness." »  "  There  is  another  benefit  derived 
from  mission  work  which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked,"  writes  a  resident 
missionary  in  one  of  the  cities  of  Burma.  "  It  helps  to  correct  the  bad 
opinion  of  Europeans  usually  entertained  in  this  country,  English 
officials  often  lead  lives  here  which  are  so  immoral  that  the  heathen 
idea  of  Christian  England  would  be  simply  hideous,  were  there  not  some 
counteracting  influence  to  modify  it.  A  majority  of  the  European  offi- 
cials who  have  been  here  during  the  last  four  years  have  openly  lived 
with  Burman  mistresses,  and  their  drinking  capacity  is  something  to 
excite  wonder." 

While  this  is  true  of  a  large  class  of  foreigners,  yet  there  are  many 
conspicuous  and  noble  exceptions,  to  whom  much  credit  and  honor  are 
due.  It  remains  a  fact,  however,  that  Europeans,  to  a  lamentable  ex- 
tent, have  lived  unworthy  lives  in  the  presence  of  heathen  society,  and 
that  also  in  the  larger  sphere  of  colonial,  political,  and  commercial  in- 
tercourse a  dark  page  has  to  be  recorded  concerning  the  treatment  of 
inferior  races  by  the  representatives  of  civilized  nations,  which  has  been 
characterized  by  many  unfair  and  shameful  features.^  An  elaborate  his- 
torical sketch  of  the  darker  aspects  of  the  dealings  of  civilized  nations 


>  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  "  British  Central  Africa,"  p.  192. 

This  dark  picture  may  be  brightened  by  a  gleam  of  sunlight  from  the  letter  of 
a  South  African  missionary.  He  writes:  "  Missionaries  in  Bechuanaland,  lay  and 
clerical,  rejoice  in  many  a  woman's  benediction,  whose  sons  or  other  loved  ones 
have  found  their  way  into  the  recesses  of  Africa,  and  whose  wild  career  has,  thank 
God,  in  many  instances,  been  checked  by  unexpected  contact  with  something  like 
the  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  home  life  from  which  they  had  cut  themselves  adrift. 
The  amount  of  good  which  missionaries  in  these  far-off  lands  are  often  able  to  do 
in  this  way  can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  Every  one  who  has  thus  been  able  to 
regain  possession  of  himself  becomes  a  duplicate  of  the  missionary  in  the  influence 
of  his  life  upon  black  and  white  among  whom  he  moves."— Rev.  Roger  Price 
(L.  M.  S.),  Kuruman,  British  Bechuanaland. 

2  "  The  pith  and  marrow  of  all  the  good  in  our  national  life  is  Christ,  and  it  is 
the  Anglo-Saxon  stock,  with  its  sturdy  faith  and  evangelical  tradition,  which  is  the 
coloniser  and  civiliser  of  the  world.  Apart  from  Christianity,  has  not  the  West 
too  often  been  guilty  of  the  most  horrible  crimes  against  the  '  childhood  of  the 
world '?  From  whence  have  come  the  man-stealers,  the  drink-sellers,  the  murderers 
and  debauchers  of  weaker  races  ?  What  would  our  boasted  civilisation  have  wrought 
by  this  time,  if  the  strong  hand  of  Christian  public  opinion  and  law  had  not  stepped 
in  to  deliver  those  drawn  unto  death?  "—Dr.  H.  Martyn  Clark  (C.  M.  S.),  Amrit- 
sar,  India. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Thompson,  in  his  "  Moravian  Missions,"  gives  instances  of  shocking 
cruelties  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards  in  Central  and  South  America  and  the  West 
Indies  (pp.  166-169).  No  American  of  this  generation  needs  to  be  reminded  of  the 
wrongs  of  Cuba  as  emphasizing  the  barbarous  story  of  Spanish  colonial  policy. 


',l43ii_ 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA   IN  MISSIONS      60 

with  inferior  races  has  been  given  by  Dr.  Gustav  VVameck,  in  his 
"  Modem  Missions  and  Culture  "  (pp.  239-306),  where  he  treats  of  the 
relation  of  culture  to  missions.'  Nevertheless,  noble  progress  has  been 
made,  and  many  kindly,  humane  relations  have  been  established. 
Christian  missions  are  fast  reversing  the  verdict  which  might  otherwise 
have  been  rendered  had  Christendom  touched  the  non-Christian  world 
only  through  the  channels  of  unchristian  lives  and  selfish  political  and 
commercial  aims. 

In  the  meantime,  an  impressive  exemplification  of  the  fact  has  been 
afforded  that  Christianity,  the  substantial  fabric,— wholesome,  historic, 
uncompromising  Christianity,— can  alone  adequately  prepare  a  people 
for  the  transition  from  barbarism  to  refinement,  and  guide  society  as  a 
whole  to  the  hearty  adoption  of  nobler  principles  and  higher  standards. 
Civilization  can  do  much  to  change  the  outer  aspects  of  communities 
and  nations,  but  only  the  master  touch  of  Christianity  can  mould  the 
inner  purpose  and  renew  the  secret  springs  of  righteous  living.  This 
is  true  even  in  Christendom,  for  it  is  Christianity  alone  which  in  spirit 
or  in  very  deed  fights  certain  forms  of  evil  and  gives  a  temper  of 
righteousness  to  life.  It  is  of  the  essence  of  Christianity  in  its  relation 
lo  human  progress  to  be  aggressive.  It  was  born  to  fight  evil.  It  was 
instituted  and  equipped  with  a  view  to  its  achieving  by  steady  effort 
and  inflexible  pressure  a  great  historic  result,  namely,  the  perfection  of 
human  society.  Other  agencies  which  give  direction  and  impetus  to 
social  evolution  work  with  more  or  less  of  haphazard,  or  with  vague 
tendencies  towards  a  predetermined  end,  or  with  only  a  drifting,  unde- 
fined possibility,  or  at  best  a  probability,  that  a  certain,  well-defined  result 


ill 


=.  :S 


•  The  treatment  of  aboriginal  races  by  British  colonists  was  made  a  subject  of 
careful  examination  by  a  select  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Victorian  reign.  The  report  was  presented  to  Parliament  in  June,  1837, 
and  one  of  the  results  of  the  investigation  was  the  formation  of  the  Aborigines  Pro- 
tection Society,  which  is  still  actively  engaged  in  its  benevolent  service.  In  that 
memorable  report  occurs  the  following  paragraph :  "  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  intercourse  of  Europeans  in  general,  without  any  exception  in  favour  of  the 
subjects  of  Great  Britain,  has  been,  unless  when  attended  by  missionary  exertions, 
a  source  of  many  calamities  to  uncivilised  nations.  Too  often  their  territory  has 
been  usurped,  their  property  seized,  their  numbers  diminished,  their  character  de- 
based, the  spr'-d  of  civilisation  impeded.  European  vices  and  diseases  have  been 
introduced  amongst  them,  and  they  have  been  familiarised  with  the  use  of  our  most 
potent  instruments  for  the  subtle  or  the  violent  destruction  of  human  life,  namely, 
brandy  and  gunpowder.  It  will  be  only  too  easy  to  make  out  the  proof  of  all  these 
assertions."— /"/i^  Aborigines'  Friend,  July,  1896,  p.  26.  Cf.  also,  for  further 
historical  data,  "  Transactions  oi  the  Aborigines  Protection  Society,"  4  vols., 
1874-96. 


w 


1<1 


ill 


il 


I  i  ^ 


1 1 

5| 


70 


CHRISTtA,"^  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


A  lympotium  of  mia- 

sionary  opinion  aa  to 

th«  aocial  value  of 

miaaiona. 


will  be  reached.  Christianity,  however,  lays  down  its  principles,  states 
its  methods,  sets  forth  its  programme,  announces  its  aim,  and  proceeds 
to  work  aggressively  for  its  accomplishment.  It  stands  for  an  intelli- 
gent purpose  in  social  evolution ;  it  represents  a  divine  factor  in  human 
progress. 

IX 

Among  missionaries  of  long  experience  and  observation  there  seems 
to  be  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  social  results  of  missions.  The  power 
of  Christianity  to  change  the  tone  and  environ- 
ment of  society  for  the  better,  its  inevitable  trend 
in  that  direction,  and  in  fact  its  necessity  as  a  per- 
suasive and  invigorating  force,  if  results  of  per- 
manent value  are  to  be  secured,  are  regarded  by  them  as  axiomatic 
truths  based  upon  experience.  The  judgment  which  they  pass  upon 
these  points  is  practically  unanimous,  although  the  difficulty  of  tabulat- 
ing and  demonstrating  these  effects  at  the  present  stage  of  mission 
progress  is  fully  recognized.'  This  conviction,  moreover,  seems  to  be 
expressed  with  equal  confidence  by  missionaries  who  live  amidst  the 
higher  civilization  of  the  Orient,  and  by  those  who  labor  surrounded 
by  the  degradation  of  savagery. 

The  missionaries  in  Japan,  as  might  be  expected,  express  their  views 
with  a  measure  of  reserve,  as  the  evidence  in  the  case  of  that  progres- 
sive and  alert  people  is  not  as  manifest  and  in- 
The  judgment  of  mia-    dubitable  as  it  is  found  to  be  in  the  case  of  other 
aionariea  from  Japan,    ^ore  Conservative  Oriental  nations.     The  Japa- 
nese are  naturally  imitative,  and  have  shown  them- 
selves to  be  responsive  to  West*-  i  thought,  and  to  be  receptive,  in  a 
remarkable  degree,  to  Western  civilization  for  its  own  sake.     European 
ideas  and  methods  have  been  welcomed  with  a  r.ieasure  of  zest ;  modern 
culture  has  been  unusually  appreciated ;  and  the  facilities  of  material 
civilization  have  been  adopted  to  a  degree  hitherto  unknown  in  the 
conservative  East.    This  fact  leaves  it,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  an  open 

'  A  veteran  ir  ssionary  writes  to  the  author  upon  this  point  as  follows :  "  One 
difficulty  that  at  ice  presents  itself  is  in  tabulating  results  of  this  kind.  These 
indirect  influences  of  mission  work  are  often  so  silent  and  imperceptible  that  we 
might  as  well  attempt  to  put  into  statistical  tables  the  influence  of  the  rays  of  the 
sun  in  fructifying  the  earth.  These  are  not  only  felt  by  the  growing  crops  which 
we  can  measure  and  weigh,  but  by  every  living  animal  and  every  tree  of  the  forest. 
Earth,  air,  and  water— all  animate  and  even  inanimate  creation— respond  to  their 
touch."— Rev.  Daniel  McGilvary,  D.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Chieng  Mai,  Laos. 


ii.h.v^ 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      71 

question,  or  at  least  one  which  may  at  present  properly  be  left  open,  as 
to  what  extent  Christianity  as  such  has  been  directly  influential  in  the 
production  of  social  changes  in  Japan.* 

No  one  doubts  that  where  there  is  the  will  and  the  ambition,  on  the 
part  of  an  intelligent  nation,  or  even  among  its  leaders,  to  absorb  a  new 
and  higher  civilization,  astonishing  external  changes  will  be  brought 
about  with  surprising  rapidity;  but  the  old,  deep  question  as  to  the 
moral  quality  and  the  spiritual  power  inherent  in  these  outer  transfor- 
mations still  remains.  Material  civilization  may  be  accepted  with  an 
appearance  of  highly  benehcial  results,  but  will  this  impart  that  moral 
stamina,  those  righteous  aims,  and  the  essential  goodness,  which  alone 
can  give  a  firm  footing  and  right  direction  to  social  progress?  In  the 
case  of  the  Japanese,  especially  in  view  of  their  intense  national  spirit, 
we  can  see  that  it  is  not  easy  for  missionaries  to  speak  with  decision, 
however  readily  personal  opinion  might  sanction  it,  as  to  just  what 


n 


Ml 


S     ( 


1  It  is  fair  to  say  that  not  all  the  missionaries  in  Japan  express  their  views  with 
equal  reserve.  The  following  excerpts  from  letters  are  of  interest,  althouf^h  it 
should  be  remembered  that  those  who  have  been  less  pronounced  in  recording  a 
positive  opinion  may  not  be  on  that  account  less  decided  in  their  personal  convic- 
tions : 

"  The  Red  Cross  Society,  now  numbering  100,000,  is  an  indirect  fruit  of  Cliria- 
tianity.  Asylums  and  scliools  fo'  the  blind,  and  hospitals  under  government  or 
local  patronage,  are,  I  believe,  fruits  of  mission  work,  though  in  some  cases  quite 
indirect.  The  Railway  Mission,  Policemen's  Mission,  Prison  Work,  and  Scripture 
Union,  though  more  distinctively  mission  work,  are  not  reported,  so  far  as  I  know, 
by  any  missionary,  tract,  or  Bible  society.  The  generous  treatment  of  the  Chinese 
by  the  Japanese  in  the  recent  war  is  probably  an  indirect  fruit  of  Christi.in  seed- 
sowing.  Certainly  the  extended  and  elevated  education  of  women,  and  indeed 
the  excellent  educational  system  of  the  empire,  though  in  itself  by  no  means  Chris, 
tian,  are  the  result  of  contact  with  the  nations  sending  the  missionaries,  or  with  the 
missionaries  themselves."— Rev.  A.  A.  Bennett  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  Yokohama,  Japan. 

"  I  need  scarcely  add,  in  reply  to  your  inquiries  as  to  the  sociological  influence 
of  Christian  work  in  Japan,  that  great  moral  reforms  in  the  family,  in  the  community, 
and  in  the  nation  have  already  resulted.  In  fact,  the  ethical  side  of  Christianity 
has  impressed  the  nation  more  than  its  supernatural  side,  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
more  than  the  miracles  of  our  Lord.  Concubinage  has  been  disgraced,  forced  into 
privacy,  and  lessened;  family  life  has  been  ennobled  and  purified;  intemperance 
and  the  great  '  social  evil '  fiercely  attacked ;  the  liberty  and  right  of  the  individual 
emphasized,  and  an  unbending  and  uncompromising  ethical  standard  set  up  by  which 
the  laws  and  conduct  of  the  nation  and  the  individu.il  are  alike  judged.  Public 
opinion  is  already  being  greatly  influenced  by  this,  so  that  the  Christians  exert  an 
influence  in  the  nation  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  numbers."— John  C.  Berry, 
M.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  formerly  at  Kyoto,  Japan. 

Among  the  Christians  of  Japan  there  is,  of  course,  much  improvement  in 
home  life,  in  temperance,  truthfulness,  bfothtrly  kindness,  morality,  and  in  the 


il' 


[  } 


79 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


i  '  '  i 


pUce  ihould  be  assigned  to  Christian  missions  as  an  inspirer  of  social 
progress  in  Japan.  Missionaries  would  naturally  prefer,  under  such 
conditions,  modestly  to  await  the  verdict  of  history  as  to  this  aspect  of 
their  service,  and  to  avoid  any  expression  of  opinion  which  might  be 
offensive  to  Japanese  sensibilities.  Upon  the  question,  however,  as  to 
whether  the  social  transformation  of  Japan  can  be  accomplished  with 
moral  safety  and  ennobling  results,  apart  from  the  controlling  influence 
of  Christianity,  there  is  no  room  for  resene,  and  no  hesitancy  need  be 
found  in  the  full  expression  of  conviction.  The  words  of  Dr.  W.  N. 
Whitney,  of  the  United  States  Legation,  Tokyo,  represent  a  judgment, 
expressed  with  moderation,  which  reflects  the  prevalent  opinion  among 
the  foreign  missionaries  of  Japan.* 

In  China,  while  there  is  a  frank  recognition  among  the  missionaries 
of  the  fact  that  the  social  results  of  missions  develop  slowly  amidst  an 
habitual  conservatism  of  exceptional  intensity,  yet 
Somt  .xprtHion.  of     »"  ar«  agreed  that  nothing  has  moved  and  influ- 
opinion  from  China,     enced  Chinese  society  so  mightily  as  Christian 
missions.    "  Evidently  only  the  new  life  which  ac- 
companies the  Gospel  of  divine  grace,"  writes  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Lees 
(L.  M.  S.),  of  Tientsin,  "  is  a  force  strong  enough  to  purify,  elevate,  and 
save  this  land ;  but,  necessarily,  the  process  must  be  a  gradual  one, 
which  has  not  advanced  very  far  as  yet,  and  the  desired  result  will  come 
at  length  rather  as  the  outcome  of  the  permeation  of  the  mind  of  the 
nation  by  Christian  thought  than  by  avowed  effort  on  the  part  of  mis- 
sionaries."    "  I  can  give  you  no  statistics  on  the  social  lines  of  mission 

elevation  of  women,  and  their  influence  all  around  is  for  good.  Outside  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  Japan,  heathenism,  superstition,  and  idolatry  still  reign  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  nothing  but  the  grace  of  God  can  cast  them  out."— Rev. 
J.  C.  Hepburn,  M.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Yokohama,  Japan. 

"  Almost  all  of  our  philanthropic  agencies  in  the  United  States  are  employed. 
The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  orphanages,  hospitals  ^or  lepers,  schools 
for  the  poor,  temperance  societies,  etc.,  are  some  of  the  instrumt.italities  now  used. 
Public  societies,  public  lectures  and  meetings,  constantly  call  attention  to  the  evils 
of  society,  and  discuss  remedies.  Special  efforts  for  special  classes,  railway  men, 
jinrikisha-puUers,  overworked  laborers,  etc.,  are  made.  For  the  past  five  or  sit 
years  all  these  varieties  of  work  have  been  energetically  carried  on."— Rev.  G.  W. 
Knox,  D.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  formerly  a  missionary  in  Tokyo,  Japan. 

"  We  are  under  a  certain  restraint  in  Japan  which  makes  it  difficult  to  claim  as 
the  direct  results  of  mission  work  all  that  we  may  think  to  be  fairly  its  due.  There 
is  much  on  every  hand  which  bespeaks  the  influence  of  Christian  civilization,  ftnd, 
more  or  less  directly,  of  the  Christian  Church  itself."— Rev.  Theodore  M.  MacNair 
(P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Tokyo,  Japan. 
'  See  Vol.  1.,  p.  32,  note. 


=    .* 


ili 


THE  DA  WN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS       73 


influence,"  writes  the  Rev.  Dr.  M.  H.  Houston  (P.  B.  F.  M.  S.),  of  Hang- 
chow,  "  but  can  only  say  that  it  is  evident  to  me  that  the  Gospel,  when 
accepted  in  its  fullness,  will  extirpate  all  the  social  evils  which  now  exist 
in  China,  some  of  which  are  peculiar  to  an  Oriental  country." ' 

From  Siam,  the  late  Dr.  James  B.  Thompson  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of 
Petchaburee,  wrote:  "  It  is  my  firm  conviction— based  on  what  I  see 
about  me  daily— that  Christian  missions  are  ele- 
vating and  refining  the  people  of  this  land,  and     Tht  tntimony  frem 
bringing  to  them  decided  benefits,  entirely  aside       ■lam  and  Burma, 
from  the  evangelical  results."     "  In  my  mind,  it  is 
an  axiom,"  writes  the  venerable  Dr.  McGilvary,  of  Chieng  Mai,  "  that 
the  Gospel  is  fully  applicable  and  equally  essential  to  cure  all  the  evils 
that  afflict  the  race  as  such,  in  "ne  land  as  well  as  another."     "  In  the 
last  seven  years,"  testifies  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Dodd  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of 
Lampoon,  "  I  have  seen  many  evidences  of  the  adaptation  of  the 
Gospel  to  remedy  the  evils  that  afflict  Laos  society.     We  have  a 
peculiarly  fortunate  field  for  the  investigation  of  this  point,  for  we  are 


>  Some  farther  expressions  of  opinion  by  missionaries  in  China  are  as  follows : 

"  The  elevation  of  China  socially  is  utterly  hopeless,  except  as  it  shall  be  effected 
hy  the  power  of  the  Gospel."— Rev.  C.  W.  Mateer,  D.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.), 
I'ungchow. 

"Christianity,  I  boldly  declare,  has  raised  thousands  in  North  Formosa  to 
cleaner  habits,  purer  thoughts,  nobler  aspirations,  and  more  exalted  ideas  of  earthly 
existence,  while  looking  forward  to  eternal  life."— Rev.  G.  L.  MacKay,  D.D. 
(C.  P.  M.),  Formosa. 

"  Christianity  is  the  only  hope  for  China,  or  for  any  nation.  When  this  is  ac- 
cepted,  it  will  do  for  China  just  what  it  has  done  for  other  countries."- Rev. 
Hunter  Corbett,  D.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Chefoo. 

"  My  only  hope  for  this  country  [China]  is  from  the  progress  of  Christianity. 
They  will  no  doubt  try  to  appropriate  the  advantages  of  civilisation  without  Chris- 
tianity, but  they  will  fail,  or  should  they  succeed,  only  ride  to  a  greater  fall."— 
Rev.  Alfred  G.  Jones  (E.  B.  M.  S.),  Chefoo. 

"  The  longer  I  live  in  China,  the  less  do  I  believe  that  civilization,  so  called, 
will  help  this  people.  Christianity,  because  it  strikes  at  the  root  of  all  these  evils, 
—the  heart,— is  the  only  power  which  really  elevates  man  and  improves  his  social 
surroundings."— B.  C.  Atterbury,  M.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Peking. 

"  Christianity  is  the  only  religion  that  has  power  to  check  great  vices.  Placards 
all  over  China  exhort  against  the  use  of  opium,  but  the  vice  spreads  in  spite  of  them ; 
yet  if  those  who  are  addicted  to  this  evil  indulgence  become  Christians,  there  is 
hope  for  them.  Men  who  testify  that  the  opium  habit  was  to  them  '  ten  thousand 
hells '  now  magnify  the  grace  of  God  that  gave  them  the  victory  over  it."— Rev.  J.  G. 
Fagg(Ref.  C.  A.),  Amoy. 

"  What  is  apparent  in  our  new  and  small  field  may  not  be  great  as  to  its  extent, 
but  it  is  significant  as  pertaining  to  all  the  life  and  social  condition  of  those  influ- 


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74 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


to  shut  in  from  the  outer  world  that  we  have  h*d  hitherto  but  few  of 
the  adjunct*  o(  civilization  to  follow  and  supplement  our  labon." 

In  Burma,  mi»sionariei  of  the  American  Baptist  Miuionary  Union 
give  unequivocal  testimony  upon  the  point  under  consideration.  Th*. 
Rev.  A.  E.  Scagrave,  of  Rangoon,  declares  that,  in  hit  opinion,  "  the 
Karens  have  been  made  what  they  are  by  their  acceptance  of  Chriatianity ; 
instead  of  a  scattered,  degraded,  and  despised  people,  they  have  be- 
come the  poisesbors  of  influence  and  power."  The  Rev.  VV.  I.  Price, 
of  H  en /.ada,  writes:  "As  to  the  sociological  effects  of  Christian  mit- 
sions  >ng  the  Karens  of  Burma,  I  unhesitatingly  say  that  they  are 
very  marked  and  most  salutary,  touching  and  influencing  for  good  every 
aspect  of  society."  'I he  Rev.  \V.  F.  Thomas,  of  Intein,  atterU:  "  Of 
the  indirect  blessings  of  missions,  to  which  you  refer,  nowher*?  it  there 
more  evidence  than  among  the  Chins,  the  Karens,  and  other  hill-tribet 
of  Burma,  to  wnom  most  of  my  service  for  fifteen  years  has  been  given. 
Indeed,  so  conspicuous  are  these  advantages  that  they  are  often  over- 
estimated." The  Rev.  Alonzo  Bunker,  D.D.,  of  Toungoo,  writes: 
"  The  G<  spel  of  Jesus  is  the  sovereign  remedy  for  all  the  ills  of  barba- 
rism, and  the  only  force  that  can  lift  mankind  from  a  lower  to  a  higher 
level."  This  opinion  is  shared  by  his  colleague,  the  Rev.  H.  P.  Coch- 
rane, who  expresses  his  conviction  that  "  Christianity  is  the  only  power 
that  ever  will  or  ever  can  cause  light  to  shine  into  this  thick  darkness." 
A  TYii'- -onary  of  'he  same  society,  the  Rev.  P.  H.  Moore,  of  Nowgong, 
Assam,  reinforces  this  opinion,  when  he  writes :  "  I  feel  "^o  sure  that 
Christianity  is  the  only  effectual  remedy  for  all  these  evils  of  society 
that  the  matter  seems  to  me  hardly  to  admit  of  discussion." 

The  volume  of  testimony  from  India  is  alike  instructive  and  valua- 
ble.   Among  representative  opinions  are  the  following :  "  Nothing  can 
be  more  certain,"  writes  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Kellogg, 
R.pr.Mnt.ti«.vi.w.   DD.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Landaur,  "than  that 
from  India.  guch   [reform]   movements  here   and    there   are 

directly  due  to  the  effect  of  Christianity  as  a  visi- 
ble power  in  provo'dng  to  good  works."  "  A  volume  might  be  written," 
observes  the  Rev.  T.  E.  Slater  (L.  M.  S.),  of  Bangalore,  "on  this  most 

enced.  An  entire  change  is  produced  in  the  individual  and  in  the  community,  large 
or  small,  which  yields  to  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  as  introduced  by  the  mission- 
aries."—Rev.  Charles  Leaman  (P.  U.  F.  M.  N.),  Nanking. 

"  Public  Christian  worship,  which  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  our  work,  and 
the  order  observed  on  such  occasions,  the  large  numbers  in  attendance,  the  char- 
acter and  ability  of  native  pastors  and  teachers,  and  the  effect  of  the  whole  on 
the  community  at  large,  are  all  in  happy  contradistinction  to  the  idolatrous  services 
held  throughout  the  country."— Ke v.  W.  Muirhead,  D.D.  (L.  M.  S.),  Shangha:. 


S}^ 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA   fX  A//SS/OXS       76 

fruitful  lubject,  but  I  hope  I  have  Mid  enough  to  §how  that  here  in 
India  we  have  overwhelming  evidence  that  Christian  niiusions  have 
proved  an  earthly  at  well  as  a  heavenly  benefit  to  society.  Tiicy  have 
greatly  relieved  the  wrongs,  burdenH,  and  miserit^s  that  afTlict  human- 
ity, and  they  are  an  effective  agency  for  stamping  out  ancient  cviU,  as 
well  as  for  creating  a  higher  and  hra'thier  public  sentiment  in  ilic  coun- 
try.    The  Gospel  of  Christ  is  eminently  adapted  to  all  this ;  and  apart 

from  it  I  know  of  no  remedial  and  regenerating  power. I'he  results 

are  very  apparent  among  the  Christans,"  writes  Dr.  John  Sruddcr 
(Ref.  C.  A.),  of  Vellore.  "  They  have  been  elevated  in  every  .sense. 
Many  of  them  were  bom  among  the  lowest  and  most  degraded,  but 
now  take  their  stand  among  the  best,  and  are  exerting  a  great  moral 
powei  in  the  land."  The  Rev.  James  E.  Tracy,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M), 
of  Periakulam,  confirms  this,  when  he  observes:  "In  all  matters  of 
sociological  progress  our  Christian  converts  stand  confessedly  far  in  ad- 
vance of  the  community  in  general,  and  whatever  testimony  this  fact 
may  bear  to  the  sociological  value  of  our  work  is  valid  evidence." 
"  The  Christian  community,"  asserts  Dr.  Pauline  Root  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.), 
formerly  of  Madura,  "  takes  a  firm  stand  for  temperance  and  social 
purity,  and  leads  in  all  good  works."  Dr.  Henry  Martyn  Clark 
(C.  M.  S.),  of  Amritsar,  remarks:  "  B:ducation,  civilisation,  the  relief 
of  pain,  the  freeing  of  the  slave,  the  war  against  uncleanness,  and 
other  manifold  forms  of  evil,  social  and  political,  which  are  rife,  are 
all  grand  and  good  works.  N  one  of  them  is,  />rr  se,  the  missionary's 
work,  but  all,  properly  used,  may  be  the  stepping-stones  to  success. 
In  pursuing  his  chief  aim  it  is  given  him  to  have  the  joy  of  bringing 
many  of  these  blessings,  and  of  seeing  them  follow  in  the  train  of  the 
Gospel." » 


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I  "  I  have  teen  enough  of  Giristian  evangelism  to  fill  me  with  joyful  hopes.  I 
never  met  a  missionary  in  India  or  Japan  who  was  doubtful  alviut  the  final  result. 
And  I  have  seen  enough  of  the  practical  workings  of  Hinduism,  Iluddhism,  ami 
Islam  to  crystallize  into  adamantine  firmness  my  previous  conviction  of  their  futility 
to  give  the  soul  peace  with  Go«l,  to  remove  the  weight  of  guilt  and  grief,  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  vigorous  individual  and  national  morality,  and  to  brighten  earth 
with  the  light  of  a  blessed  immortality.  The  notion  that  Asia  does  not  need  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  because  of  the  refined  and  lofty  moral  sentiments  in  the  sacred 
books  of  the  East,  or  because  Oriental  speakers  trained  in  Christian  schools  and 
shaped  by  Chrir*  t:  environments  are  able  to  make  an  agreeable  impression  when 
expounding  tht  '  ath  on  Christian  platforms,  is  born  of  ignorance.  The  world 
needs  Christ,  and  to  us  more  than  to  any  other  people  belongs  the  fulfilment  of  the 
committion  to  evangelize  the  nations."— Rev.  John  H.  Barrows,  D.D.,  in  an 
addresi  after  visiting  India. 


!•' 


fc 


76 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


From  the  Turkish  Empire  we  have  a  word  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  K. 

Greene  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Constantinople,  as  follows:   "A  change 

has  already  been  accomplished,  sufficiently  great 

What  ii  thought  in     an^  salutary  to  prove  that  evangelical  Christian. 

Turkey  and  Persia,  jfy^  jf  allowed  its  legitimate  influence.  "."iiUl  «.i!i,er.l- 
ily  bring  about  the  regeneration  of '!'  j;  key."  Tlie 
Rev.  Robert  Thomson,  of  the  same  society,  writes,  also  ;  on  Constan- 
tinople, in  substantially  the  same  strain.  Dr.  Grace  h.  Kiinbdl,  of 
the  American  Board,  wrote  from  Van,  in  Asiatic  Turkey:  "Christian 
ity  is  the  or'.y  force  that  can  be  depended  upon  to  renovate  society  as 
well  as  thf  ndividual,  yet  in  order  to  do  this  we  need  not  less  of  the 
policy  of  sa\  ing  souls,  but  more  of  the  broad  activities  of  applied  Chris- 
tianity." Miss  Anna  Melton  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Mosul,  sends  from 
the  far  eastern  recesses  of  Turkey  the  following  luminous  testimony: 
"  Although  we  have  not  worked  primarily  for  sociological  results,  yet 
we  have,  in  (juite  an  encouraging  degree,  obtained  them.  The  people 
can  now  form  organizations  and  conduct  meetings  according  to  rules 
and  regulations,  which  formerly  they  could  not  do.  Both  sexes  take 
pride  in  keeping  their  persons  and  clothing  clean,  and  try  to  make  their 
houses  more  like  homes.  They  look  more  to  the  health  and  welfare  of 
the  family,  desire  earnestly  the  development  of  their  children,  and  de- 
light themselves  in  pure,  whole.some,  and  edifying  social  amusements, 
in  contrast  with  the  drunken  carousals  about  them.  They  have 
more  of  the  spirit  of  helping  one  another,  and  more  sympathy  for 
a  brother  in  distress.  I  distinctly  recall  a  case  where  a  poor  villager 
was  robbed  of  all  his  money,  and  his  neighbors  the  same  day  made  up 
the  amount." 

The  author's  associates  and  colleagues  in  Syria  share  with  him 
the  view  that  Christian  missions  have  brought  social  changes  of  the 
highest  promise  to  that  land.  The  Rev.  H.  H.  Jessup,  D.D.,  records 
his  opinion,  as  follows :  "To  recount  the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  in  the 
Ottoman  Empire  would  be  to  write  the  history  of  its  moral,  intellectual, 
and  social  progress  for  the  past  seventy-five  years."  ^  The  Rev.  W.  W. 
Eddy,  D.D.,  refers  to  the  philanthropic  services  of  missionaries  in  times  of 
massacre  and  famine,  and  to  their  efforts  to  secure  from  Turkish  authori- 
ties the  common  rights  of  non-Moslems,  to  awaken  benevolent  enter- 
prise, to  care  for  the  dependent,  the  orphaned,  and  the  enfeebled,  to 
mir '' '  "r  to  the  sick  and  suffering,  to  elevate  the  home,  and  to  protest 
agi  ;■  St  intemperance,  slavery,  and  injustice  to  woman.     The  Rev. 

I  The         rch  at  Home  and  Aoroad,  November,  1893,  p.  363.    Cf.  also  ibid., 
December,  1894,  p.  485. 


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II 


THE  DA  WN  OF  A   SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA   IN  MISSIONS        77 

George  E.  Post,  M.D.,  who  has  niinistered  so  skilfully  to  thousands 
of  suffering  Syrians,  and  for  many  years  has  given  invaluable  instruc- 
tion to  medical  students  at  Beirut,  is  unhesitating  in  his  judgment  that 
much  has  been  done  by  Christian  missions  to  ameliorate  the  social  evils 
of  Western  Asia.  At  the  end  of  a  long  list  of  specifications  he  empha- 
sizes the  influence  of  the  Gospel  in  liberating  the  mind  from  supersti- 
tion and  the  rigors  of  sectarian  animosity.  The  suspicion,  prejudice, 
and  hostility  of  the  various  religious  elements  of  socety  are  melting 
away,  and  in  time  will  certainly  vanish.  Similar  views,  the  author 
knows,  are  held  by  President  Bliss,  Dr.  Porter,  and  Dr.  Graham,  of 
the  Syrian  Protestant  College,  and  by  the  entire  circle  of  resident 
missionaries.  Dr.  Porter  writes  of  the  quasi-feudal  system  and  the 
ecclesiastical  despotism  which  prevailed  in  Syria  until  quite  late  in  the 
present  century,  but  which  have  now  been  abolished,  or  exist  only 
in  a  very  modified  form. 

In  the  neighboring  Mohammedan  realm  of  Persia,  Dr.  George  W. 
Holmes  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Hamadan,  expresses  his  conviction  that 
"  nothing  but  Christianity  can  regenerate  Persia."     Dr.  J.  P.  Cochran 
(P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Urumiah,  writes:  "An  educational  board  is  or- 
ganized by  tv.e  mission  and  people,  and  also  a  legal  board,  which  is  an 
agent  of  tht  ,    ople  in  government  affairs.     In  addition  to  the  services 
of  the  missionaries,  the  iick  poor  are  treated  by  a  number  of  physicians 
who  have  been  educated  by  the  mission.      There  is  a  Young  Men's 
Christian   Association,  and  also  a  Christian  Endeavor  Society.     We 
have  staned  gatherings  for  the  women,  where  practical  questions  are 
considered.   Then  we  have  meetings  of  educated  people  to  discuss  ques- 
tions of  the  day.     An   orphanage  has  been  established.     We  have 
college  alumni  and  female  seminary  alumna,  and  at  meetings  of  these 
bodies,  questions  are  debated  and  plans  formed  to  help  the  nation." 
The  Rev.  Benjamin  Labaree,  D.D.,  for  many  years  a  Presbyterian 
missionary  in  Urumiah,  in  a  valuable  r^sum^  of  the  social  results  of 
missions  in  Persia,  emphasizes  the  stimulus  given  by  Christianity  to 
higher  social  aspirations  among  the  people,  the  philanthropic  impulses 
awakened,  the  practical  influence  and  service  of  the  missionaries  in 
securing  justice  and  abating  outrage  when  attempts  have  been  made  to 
oppress  the  subject  peoples.     "  The  catalogue  of  wrongs  to  Christians 
redressed,"  he  writes,  "  of  illegal  taxes  abated,  of  unjust  claims  can- 
celled, of  outrages  atoned  for,  through  the  efforts  of  missionaries,  is  a 
long  one."     He  quotes  the  perhaps  somewhat  highly  colored  language 
of  an  English  newspaper  correspondent  as  follows:    "There  is  an 
American  colony  of  Protestants  established  among  the  Nestorians. 


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78 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIOXS 


D  SOCIAL  PKOGKESS 


They  len  ry  heroic  and  useful  lives,  and  have  done  more  for  the 
improve  at  of  Persian  morality  and  the  stoppage  of  cruelty  and  per- 
secution than  all  of  the  European  diplomatic  missions  put  together." 

In  the  West  Indies,  the  Island  of  Jamaica  is  an  instructive  example 
of  what  can  be  wrought  by  faithful  missionary  effort,  in  the  interests 

of  civilization  among  an  ignorant  and  degraded 

*iZ.?mTx\c:ZT   Negro  population.     Had  the  Gospel  been  allowed 

South  America.        to  enter  Cuba,  and  religious  liberty  been  granted 

to  the  people,  the  state  of  the  island  would  no 
doubt  have  been  similar  to  the  conditions  now  so  happily  realized  in 
Jamaica.  The  Rev.  James  Ballantine  (U.  P.  C.  S.  M.),  of  Chapelton, 
writos :  "  I  can  but  say  that  if  Jamaica  enjoys  any  measure  of  the 
blessings  of  civilisation,  she  owes  it  largely  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 
"Jamaica  is  not  now  a  heathen  land,"  affirms  the  Rev.  Adam  Thom- 
son (U.  P.  C.  S.  M.),  of  Montego  Bay.  "  It  was  once  so,  but  at  the 
present  time  it  is  in  many  important  respects  as  much  entitled  to  be 
called  a  Christian  country  as  is  either  Scotland  or  America.  This  be- 
nign and  philanthropic  result  is  mainly  traceable  to  the  civilizing  and 
sanctifying  influence  of  Christian  missions."  Other  facts  come  to  hand 
in  a  letter  of  the  Rev.  W.  Y.  Turner,  M.D.,  of  the  same  mission.  He 
says :  "  There  are  throughout  the  island  various  societies  having  the 
intellectual  and  moral  welfare  of  the  people  in  view.  These  have  in  al. 
most  every  case  been  initiated  by  the  churches,  and  are  connected  with 
them.  A  system  of  Penny  Savings  Banks  was  introduced  by  the  Gov- 
ernment some  fourteen  years  ago,  and  is  worked  chiefly  in  connection 
with  the  churches.  There  were  one  or  two  such  banks  in  existence,  in 
association  with  the  churches,  before  the  government  system,  now  uni- 
versal, was  established.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  missions  have  ex- 
erted a  great  influence  upon  the  lives  and  habits  of  the  people,  and  are 
still  doing  so.  The  presence  of  a  missionary  has  a  distinct  tendency 
to  repress  evil  living,  as  it  makes  evil-doers  more  ashamed  of  sin,  and 
leads  to  its  being  shunned.  A  great  improvement  has  been  noticed  in 
this  district  during  the  three  years  we  have  lived  here.  There  is  less 
quarrelling  and  fighting,  less  immorality,  and  less  drunkenness  than 
formerly." 

The  degraded  Negroes  of  Guiana,  Central  America,  and  the  West 
Indies  were  without  one  ray  of  hope  until  the  Moravian  missionaries 
began  to  labor  so  heroically  for  their  instruction  and  elevation.  The 
triumphs  and  glories  of  the  Moravian  missionary  epic  would  alone  fill 
volumes  with  testimony  gathered  from  the  darkest  corners  of  the 
earth,  showing  the  sanctifying  and  civilizing  power  of  the  Gospel 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      79 


among  those  who  may  be  regarded  as  preeminently  the  lost  races 
of  the  globe.* 

From  the  adjacent  mainland  of  Central  America,  the  Rev.  E.  M. 
Haymaker  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Guatemala  City,  contributes  the  follow- 
ing testimony:  "That  the  Gospel  is  an  effective  remedy  for  these 
social  evils  in  Guatemala  is  evidenced  in  the  fact  that  we  are  bidden 
God-speed  not  only  by  people  of  Protestant  sympathies,  but  by 
many  Roman  Catholics,  as  well  as  those  representing  the  liberal 
body,  who  so  far  overcome  their  antipathy  to  all  religion  as  to 
publicly  and  highly  commend  Protestantism  solely  because  they  rec- 
ognize its  immense  and  undeniable  social  value.  They  realize  that  it 
is  just  what  society  here  needs."  From  the  neighboring  Republic  of 
Colombia,  the  Rev.  M.  E.  Caldwell  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  formerly  of  Bogota, 
writes :  "  Many  instances  might  be  given  of  the  power  of  Christianity  to 
lift  up  the  people  of  Colombia.  It  is  a  power  that  neither  secular 
education,  nor  money,  nor  travel,  nor  refinement,  can  give.  None  of 
these  things  has  been  successful  in  curing  the  tendency  to  impurity  or 
the  proneness  to  untruthfulness,  or  in  building  up  a  stable  and  virtuous 
civilization  in  Colombia.  Christianity,  and  Christianity  alone,  has 
been  able  to  make  any  lasting  impression  for  good." 

"  Concerning  our  own  people,  as  a  whole,"  communicates  the  Rev. 
J.  G.  Hall  (P.  B.  F.  M.  S.),  of  Mexico,  "  the  evidences  are  abundant  that 
they  are  being  improved  in  all  their  social  relations,  outsiders  themselves 
being  the  judges.  They  live  better  and  dress  better,  the  interior  of  their 
houses  is  more  attractive,  and  they  have  more  material  comforts  around 
them ;  their  family  relations  are  happier,  and  the  women  and  children 
receive  more  consideration."  The  Rev.  Hubert  W.  Brown  (P.  B.  F. 
M.  N.),  of  Mexico  City,  writes  of  his  strong  conviction  that  "  evangeli- 
cal missions  exert  a  powerful,  pervasive  influence  upon  the  thought  and 
life  of  Mexico."     He  refers  especially  to  effects  produced  upon  the  lib- 

1  Cf.  Thompson,  "  Moravian  Missions,"  Lectures  III.  and  IV. 

"  Formerly,"  writes  a  West  Indian  planter,  in  the  early  days  of  missions,  "  we 
could  hardly  procure  ropes  enough  on  Monday  for  punishing  those  slaves  who  had 
committed  crimes  on  Sunday,  twenty,  thirty,  and  even  more  being  hanged;  but, 
since  the  Gospel  has  been  preached  to  them,  scarcely  two  are  hanged  in  a  whole 
year,  and  these,  for  the  most  part,  are  strange  Negroes,  who  have  not  been  long  on 
the  island."  More  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  the  governor  of  one  of  the  West 
Indian  islands,  in  reply  to  the  question  as  to  what  security  he  had  against  the  up- 
rising  of  the  slaves,  took  the  questioner  to  his  window,  and,  directing  his  attention 
to  some  Moravian  mission  stations,  answered:  "This  is  our  security.  Negroes 
who  are  converted  will  never  rise  in  rebellion ;  and  their  number  is  so  great  that  the 
others  could  never  conspire  without  their  knowledge,  and  they  would  inform  us." 
{litd.,  pp.  169,  170,  171.) 


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80 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


eral  leaders  of  the  State,  from  the  Chief  Executive,  through  governors 
of  States,  to  the  humblest  official  in  many  a  quiet  village  or  rural  district. 
This  influence  he  designates  as  "  restraining  and  constraining  in  char- 
acter," as  "  enlightening  and  beneficial,  representing  the  best  thought  of 
foreign  Protestant  nations,  and  standing  as  a  monitor  or  moral  norm  of 
right  and  wrong."  He  also  regards  their  stimulating  and  corrective  in- 
fluence over  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  especially  in  arousing  the 
priesthood  to  a  better  and  worthier  life,  as  already  initiating  "  a  moral 
transformation  or  counter-reformation."  Protestant  conve/ts  lead 
"  changed  lives,"  and  are  "  a  leaven  for  good  in  the  community  where 
they  reside." 

Dr.  H.  M.  Lane  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil,  sums  up  the 
net  results  of  the  social  influence  of  missions  during  the  past  twenty 
years,  as  follows :  "A  marked  decrease  in  the  tolerance  of  open  im- 
morality ;  far  less  hesitation  in  classifying  the  greed  and  vice  of  immoral 
priests,  as  such ;  a  decline  of  superstition,  and  fewer  large  legacies  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Women  and  womanly  virtues  are  more 
respected ;  they  have  been  elevated  socially  to  a  position  unknown  in 
either  Spain  or  Portugal.  In  a  vast  circle  the  Bible  is  accepted  as  the 
only  foundation  for  a  code  of  morals ;  family  life  is  purer ;  truthfulness 
is  much  more  prevalent ;  African  slavery  has  been  abolished  without 
bloodshed.  In  the  new  Republic,  Protestant  Christianity  is  recog- 
nized in  many  places  as  a  social  and  political  force  not  to  be  ignored. 
In  the  wake  of  Protestant  missions  in  Brazil  we  find  the  Voung  Men's 
Christian  Association,  with  a  strong  native  following,  also  Christian 
Endeavor  Societies,  hospitals,  and  trained  nurses,  who  are  not  nuns. 
Out  of  our  missions  have  come  a  periodical  literature  and  a  cleaner 
permanent  literature  for  the  young,  school-books  with  a  Christian  flavor, 
innocent  games,  outdoor  amusements,  ladies'  sewing  and  other  societies, 
co-education,  and  athletics." 

Not  less  striking  is  the  testimony  from  those  who  have  had  special 

opportunities  for  observing  the  social  results  of  missions  among  savage 

races.    In  fact,  the  changes  that  have  been  wrought 

What  ia  aaid  by  mla-  ...  .  ,. 

aionarieaamonEthe  among  pnmitive  nature-peoples  are  often  more 
aavage  racea  of  Africa  notable  than  those  that  may  be  traced  in  more  civi- 
an  agaacar.  Hzed  communities.  From  various  sections  of  Africa 
comes  substantially  the  same  verdict  as  to  what  is  wrought  by  the  touch  of 
Christianity  upon  native  society.  "  Nothing  but  the  Gospel,"  declares 
the  late  Rev.  H.  M.  Bridgman  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Natal,  "will  ever 
remedy  the  evils  of  society.  Nothing  else  goes  to  the  root  of  the  mat- 
ter."    A  missionary  of  the  Universities'  Mission  at  Zanzibar,  the  Rev. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS       81 

G.  M.  Lawson,  says:  "Our  Christians  have  usually  the  greatest 
repugnance  to  the  objectionable  [heathen]  practices  I  have  mentioned. 
If  they  are  ever  led  to  take  part  in  them  it  is  nearly  always  the  result 
of  pressure  put  upon  them  by  their  relations,  not  becar.se  they  person- 
ally have  any  taste  left  for  heathenism.  No  doubt  Christianity  softens 
and  humanizes  .•'11  whom  it  reaches.  Christians  have  a  different  appear- 
ance from  heathen,  who  have  generally  a  hopeless,  stolid  expression." 
"  It  has  been  my  lot  for  the  past  ten  years,"  states  the  Rev.  John 
W.  Stirling  (U.  P.  C.  S.  M.),  of  Buchanan,  Qumbu,  Cape  Colony,  "  to 
labor  in  a'  purely  heathen  district,  among  the  Kaffirs,  yet  even  that 
short  period  has  been  sufficient  to  indicate  that  the  Gospel  carries  in  its 
train  the  most  beneficent  of  blessings  for  every  department  of  human 
life  and  existence ;  not  only  regenerating  the  moral  nature,  but  affect- 
ing the  bodily  well-being,  and  radiating  brightness  all  around  it.  For 
all  existing  evils,  widespread  and  dreadful  though  they  be,  the  Gospel 
is  already  proving  a  panacea."  > 

A  well-known  missionary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  in 
Madagascar,  the  Rev.  James  Sibree,  asserts:  "Wherever  so-called 
civilisation  has  come  into  Madagascar  without  the  Gospel,  there  has 
been,  especially  along  the  coast,  degradation  and  drunkenness,  and 
harm— immense  harm— has  been  done  to  the  people.  Some  coast 
tribes,  indeed,  are  rapidly  dying  out  and  disappearing,  through  the 
vices  introduced  by  wicked  white  men.  There  is  a  very  great  contrast 
to  all  this  in  the  interior  provinces,  where  civilisation  came  hand  in 
hand  with  Christianity,  and  as  its  fellow  helper  and  worker."  * 

From  the  dark  regions  of  the  Upper  Congo,  the  Rev.  George  Gren- 

1  The  testimony  of  the  late  Rev.  Hugh  Goldie  (U.  P.  C.  S.  M.),  of  Creek 
Town,  Old  Calabar,  is  clear  and  pointed:  "Only  a  small  proportion  of  the  peo- 
ple have  been  won  to  Christ,  but  the  tribes  which  our  work  touches  have  been 
greatly  benefited  by  the  mission.  Though  they  know  not  whence  the  blessing 
comes,  yet  wherever  the  mission  has  been  able  to  enter,  the  whole  population  has 
been  raised  from  its  former  state.  The  atrocities  of  human  sacrifice  for  the  dead, 
the  destruction  of  infant  life,  and  other  deeds  of  cruelty  which  filled  the  land  with 
blood,  are  abolished.  Life  is  more  secure;  the  dark  superstitions  which  pre- 
vented faith  in  one  another  are  beginning  to  disappear  before  trustful  social  inter- 
course, and  as  a  consequence  the  comforts  of  the  present  life  are  more  sought  after. 
The  '  reign  of  law '  under  the  British  protectorate  has  entered  to  do  its  part,  the 
way  having  been  prepared  by  the  mission." 

8  Mr.  Sibree,  in  a  little  pamphlet  entitled  "  A  Quarter-Century  of  Change  and 
Progress:  Antananarivo  and  Madagascar  Twenty-five  Years  Ago,"  has  given  a 
glowing  account  of  social,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  changes,  as  well  as  material 
advances,  among  the  Malagasy,  which  may  stand  as  a  representative  brief  of  this 
whole  argument  for  the  social  results  of  missions. 


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CHIHSTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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fell  (E.  B.  M.  S.),  of  Bolobo,  writes:  "  Those  who  have  not  realised  the 
power  of  Christianity  are  not  slow  to  say  there  is  no  hope  for  these  poor 
peoiilc.but  those  who  ha-  ?  lived  longest  among  them,  and  have  laboured 
most  arduously  for  their  uplifting,  say  there  is  hope,  but  that  it  is  from 
one  source  alone.  The  only  reformation  that  can  possibly  regenerate 
a  people  so  degraded  is  that  which  has  Christianity  for  its  basis."  "  No 
moral  system  in  the  world,"  adds  the  Rev.  Thomas  Adams  (A.  B.  M.  U.), 
of  Leopoldville,  "can  change  their  condition,  except  the  Gospel, 
which  gives  them  a  new  spiritual  birth."  In  the  deep  recesses  of  Cen- 
tral Africa  is  the  smiling  missionary  oasis  of  Uganda,  of  which  Mr. 
Henry  M.  Stanley  writes  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  for  October,  1897 
(P-475)-  He  speaks  of  the  story  of  the  Uganda  missionary  enterprise  as 
"  an  epic  poem,"  and  declares  that  he  knows  "  of  few  secular  enterprises, 
military  or  otherwise,  deserving  of  greater  praise."  In  his  opinion, 
"Uganda  is  preeminently  the  Japan  of  Africa."  "Its  unique  geo- 
graphical position,  coupled  with  the  remarkable  intelligence  of  the 
people,  will  make  it  as  brilliant  commercially  as  it  was  renowned  in 
pagan  days  for  its  martial  prowess,  and  is  to-day  remarkable  for  its 
Christia:i  zeal."  "The  number  of  converts,"  he  states,  "has  become 
so  fo'midable  that  it  would  task  the  powers  of  a  hundred  white  mis- 
sionaries to  organize,  develop,  and  supervise  them  properly.  .  .  .  The 
results  from  a  moral  and  Christian  point  of  view  exceed  those  obtained 
from  all  the  rest  of  Equatorial  Africa"  (pp.  476,  48 1).* 

1  In  another  connection  Mr.  Stanley  writes  as  follows  upon  the  same  theme : 
"  1  do  not  tMnk  Americans  are  fully  aware  of  the  marvelous  change  that  has  come 
over  Uganda.  Many  a  time  have  I  been  laughed  at  in  the  newspapers  for  my  fervid 
faith  in  the  people  of  that  land.  At  first  they  welcomed  the  good  tidings  that  Mtesa 
was  entreating  the  white  people  to  send  him  missionaries,  and  applauded  the  warmth 
with  which  the  Church  Missionary  Society  responded  to  the  invitation;  but  after  a 
while,  as  the  first  missionaries  sent  their  doleful  mipressions  home,  the  zeal  for 
making  converts  in  Uganda  cooled  down,  and  people  here  frequently  insisted  that  it 
would  be  better  to  let  the  Waganda  severely  alone.  The  Society,  however,  persisted, 
though  with  slight  hope  of  success  ;  for  Mtesa  had  sensibly  deteriorated  as  he  grew 
older,  and  when  he  died,  his  successor,  the  present  king,  being  a  mere  youth  and 
flushed  with  vanity  and  lust,  emulated  Nero.  He  ordered  the  murder  of  a  devoted 
l>i=ho|),  hunted  the  missionaries  out  of  his  kingdom,  and  clubbed,  tortured,  and 
burnt  the  young  disciples  of  Mackay,  until  it  seemed  as  if  there  could  be  no  future 
f(ir  Uganda  but  a  quick  relapse  into  heathenism.  Had  the  Society  yielded  to  the 
almost  universal  desire  that  the  missionaries  should  (jive  up  the  effort,  Uganda 
would  by  this  time  have  been  one  of  the  darkest  regions  in  Africa.  Faith  and  per- 
severance, however,  have  made  it  one  of  the  brightest,  thereby  more  than  fulfilling 
my  most  sangu'ine  hopes. 

"  There  are  now  200  churches  in  the  State  [later  statistics,  given  in  the  Atlantic 
Monthly,  October,  1897,  name  372  as  the  number],  and  the  number  of  professing 


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THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGY AL  ERA  W  MISSIONS      H3 

In  a  recent  report  of  Sir  Claude  Macdonald,  on  the  administration 
of  the  Niger  Coast  Protectorate,  he  refers  to  missions  as  follows: 
"  Very  much  yet  remains  to  be  done ;  religious  missions  have  worked 
pc.wtently  and  well,  and  pointed  out  to  the  people  the  evil  of  such 
cruelties  and  wrong-doings;  but  there  comes  a  time  when  their  efforts 
need  backing  up  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  law  of  civilisation  and  right." 
Referring  specially  to  the  new  training  institution  of  the  United  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Scotland  in  Old  Calabar,  he  says:  "A  most  im- 
portant and  useful  departure  has  been  made  by  the  Presbyterian 
Missionary  Society  in  starting  industrial  si  hools  in  Old  Calabar.  These 
schools  are  assisted  by  a  yearly  grant  of  /200  from  the  revenue."  » 

The  Islands  of  the  South  Seas  bring  al>o  their  cjuota  of  testimony. 
"All  my  missionary  life  of  thirty-four  years,"  observes  the  Rev.  W.  G. 
Lawes,  D.  D.  (L.  M.  S.),  of  Vatorata,  New  Huinea, 
"  I  have  been  living  among  so-called  barbarous  strong  teitimony  from 
peoples-first  on  Savage  Island,  and  then  here  in        »»«.  South  s.... 
New  Guinea.     That  Christianity  is  the  only  civi- 
liser  of  such  seems  to  me  as  unnecessary  of  proof  as  that  the  sea  is  salt 
or  the  fire  warm.     We  find  a  people  debased,  ignorant,  depraved- in 
fact,  their  condition  is  such  that  the  first  chapter  of  Romans  is  as  true 
as  a  photograph.    Christianity,  if  it  is  anything  but  a  name,  must  change 
and  reform  all  this,  and  benefit  the  society  which  accepts  and  receives 
it."     "  When  their  hearts  are  touched  by  the  story  of  the  Gospel," 
writes  a  missionary  from  the  New  Hebrides,  "they  cast  off  heatlien 
ornaments,  seek  clothing,  cease  from  practices  once  dear  to  them,  and 

Christians  is  close  on  50,000  [the  numl.cr  is  now  not  far  from  65,000].     The  islands 
of  Lake  Victoria  have  not  been  forgotten,  for  each  h.is  its  church,  with  its  deacons 
and  elderi,  who  are  encouraged  in  their  duties  of  propag.indism  by  visiting  mis. 
sionaries.     Reading  and  writing  have  become  conmion  aciuirements,  and  the  letter 
now  before  me  from  a  Waganda  chief  would  indicate  the  writer  as  sufficiently  ad. 
vanced  to  become  an  excellent  clerk.     The  Gosi>tIs  are  sold  by  thousands  each  year ; 
the  offertories  testify  that  the  religion  planted  among  the  Waganda  is  something 
more  than  Up-service.     Besides  these  indications  of  a  r.-.].!.!  advance,  the  people  are 
turning  to  with  a  will  to  produce  food.     They  arc  sprea.ling  (,ut  to  make  provision 
for  their  families,  leaving  the  court  which  they  used  to  haunt  for  the  sake  of  its 
excitement  and  display.     The  government  steamer,  c  nveyed  at  an  immense  cost 
from  the  sea  to  the  lake,  has  just  been  launched,  and  tlie  mission  vessel  is  not  far 
from  completion.     The  railway  is  also  advancing  steadily  into  the  interior,  and  is 
already  stimulating  the  Waganda  to  put  forth  greater  exertions  to  make  their  country 
worthy  of  receiving  it.     The  Rev.  Mr.  Roscoe,  who  only  the  other  day  returned  to 
England  after  an  absence  of  twelve  years,  describes  the  progress  as  phenomenal." 
—Illustrated  Christian  World,  December,  1896,  p.  10. 
I  Th*  MissioHnry  RMtd,  May,  189$,  p.  ill. 


i  1 


t1 


i     ' 

11 


Hi 


•4  CHRISTtAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PJtOGMMSS 

live  changed  liTet."  •  "  I  am  equally  certain,"  wntes  a  misaionary  of 
the  London  Misaionary  Society  in  Samoa, "  tbt  all  allow  theie  (Chrii- 
tian]  ideals  to  be  practicable,  and  that  the  only  power  to  effect  locial 
reform  and  to  prevent  disintegration  and  ruin  is  the  rule  of  Christ." ' 

Striking  and  detailed  statements  are  given  by  a  missionary  in  the 
Marshall  Islands,  as  follows:  "As  to  results— about  one  tenth  of  the 
population  are  now  church-members.  In  most  of  the  islands  the  Church 
exercises  a  controlling  influence  over  .society.  The  Christian  Sabbath 
is  quite  generally  observed  by  all  classes.  Transgressions  of  the  Seventh 
Commandment  are  always  regarded  as  grounds  for  excommunication, 
and  are  no  longer  gloried  in.  Licentiousness  continues  as  a  besetting 
sin,  and  is  encouraged  by  nearly  all  the  foreigners  residing  in  the 
islands,  but  it  grows  more  and  more  disj^raceful.  Ample  clothing  is 
now  worn  by  all.  Tb-.-ving  has  mostly  disajipeared,  and  lying,  though 
not  yet  abolished,  is  growing  more  and  more  into  disrepute.  We  never 
hear  of  murders  committed  by  a  native.  Divorces  are  more  infrequent. 
The  people  are  more  wisely  industrious,  turning  their  labor  to  better 
account,  though  there  is  little  opportunity  to  accumulate  property. 
Homes,  somewhat  like  American  homes,  are  no  longer  unknown, 
though  by  no  means  numerous.  The  people  mostly  adhere  to  their 
temperate  habits,  though  strongly  tempted  to  use  intoxicants  intro- 
duced by  the  Germans.  There  are  schools  conducted  by  adherents  of 
the  mission  on  almost  all  of  the  islands,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
natives,  especially  the  younger  ones,  can  read  and  write.  Foreigners, 
whether  visitors  or  traders  or  shipwrecked  mariners,  are  everywhere 
treated  with  hospitality  and  kindness.  Life  and  property  are  more 
secure  on  all  the  islands  than  in  any  civilized  country  which  I  have 
ever  visited  or  read  about.  Women  are  treated  with  more  respect,  and 
marriage  is  held  in  greater  honor."  » 

On  the  cheerless  coast  of  Greenland  the  work  of  the  Danish  and 
Moravian  missionaries  has  created  a  state  of  civilization  "  as  Christian 
as  we  find  in  England."*  Where  ferocious  cannibals  once  made  the 
whole  coast-line  a  terror  to  mariners,  there  is  now  safety  and  hospitality 
to  shipwrecked  seamen.  Dr.  Kane  states  that  "for  the  last  hundred 
years  Greenland  has  been  safer  for  the  wrecked  mariner  than  many 
parts  of  our  American  coast ;  hospitality  is  the  universal  characteristic,"* 

1  The  Rev.  William  Gunn,  M.D.  (F.  •     S.),  Futuna,  New  Hebrides. 
*  The  Rev.  J.  E.  Newell,  Malua  Institution,  .Samoa. 
»  The  Rev.  E.  M.  Pease,  M.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Marshall  Islrnds. 
«  LaTrobe,  "The  Moravian  Missions,"  p.  i8. 

»  Thompson,  "  Moravian  Missions,"  p.  260.  The  record  of  their  missions  in 
Sonth  Africa  and  Australia  presents  similar  triumphs.    {Ibid. ,  pp.  403, 404,  445-45  •• ) 


id 


/  .J 

n  7. 

H  - 
U 


:3 


.-   3 


S    ■! 


II 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      86 


The  testimony  of  missionaries  to  the  social  benefits  of  missions  can 
be  supplemented  by  that  of  thoughtful  and  observant  natives  of  various 
lands,  and  by  the  opinion  of  resident  merchants  The  tvidence  of  natwt 
and  officials,  who  have  in  many  instances  expressed   j;;^"**"*;,^",^;,"^;. 
their  convictions  as  to  the  beneficent  results  of      firms  the  views  of 
mission  work  among  native  races.     "  It  is  freely         missionsries. 
admitted  by  inteUigent  Japanese  writers,"  states  Professor  John  C. 
Ballagh  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Tokyo,  "  that  Christianity  is  the  best  re- 
generator of  society."     "  It  is  scarcely  necessary,"  writes  the  Rev. 
David  S.  Spencer  (M.  E.  M.  S.),  of  Nagoya,  "for  a  missionary  to  say 
that  our  only  hope  for  the  removal  of  these  evils  of  Japanese  society 
lies  in  the  religion  of  our  Master.     This  the  Japanese— that  is,  the 
Christian  Japanese— believe,  though  the  belief  is  not  confined  to  them, 
for  many  who  make  no  profession  of  Christianity  boldly  say  that  it  is 
to  the  religion  of  Christ  they  must  look  for  elevation,  light,  and  peace 

for  society." 

Dr.  Martin,  of  Peking,  states  that  "thirty  years  ago  a  distinguished 
native  scholar  published  a  paper  on  the  question  whether  foreign  mis- 
sions or  foreign  trade  had  done  the  most  good  to  China,  giving  pref- 
erence to  the  former.     How  much  have  these  three  decades  done  to 
augment  that  preponderance!"     Li  Hung  Chang,  during  his  recent 
visit  to  the  United  States,  in  an  address  to  the  representatives  of  the  dif- 
ferent missionary  societies  established  in  China,  spoke  of  the  "arduous 
and  much  esteemed  work  "  of  the  missionaries,  and  referred  in  terms 
of  cordial  comment  to  the  educational  and  philanthropic  services  ren- 
dered by  them,  and  especially  to  the  help  given  in  fighting  the  opium 
curse  and  in  rescuing  its  victims.^     Mr.  L.  T.  Ah  Sou,  a  native  Chris- 
tian of  Rangoon,  Burma  (whose  opinion  is  forwarded  with  a  hearty  en- 
dorsement by  Miss  Emily  H.  Payne,  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union),  who  himself  belongs  to  the  second  generation  of  a  native 
Christian  family,  writes  that  while  "  heathenism  does  not  elevate  a  man 
from  his  ignorance,  filth,  and  superstition,  Christianity  does  that  and 
more.     It  changes  the  heart,  resulting  in  a  different  mode  of  living  and 
social  intercourse.    That  the  Burma  of  to-day  owes  much  to  Christian 
missions  is  a  fact  which  cannot  be  ignored.    A  native  Christian  be- 
comes more  energetic  in  seeking  his  livelihood,  more  frugal  and  honest, 
and  cleaner  in  his  person  and  manner  of  living." 

The  Rev.  James  E.  Tracy,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  PeriakuUm, 
»  See  Th*  Evangelist  (New  York),  September  3,  1896. 


'I 


1    I' 


!  11 

i'       f    f , 


<t 


se 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


India,  in  expressing  his  own  strong  conviction  of  the  social  benefits  of 
Christianity  in  India,  remarks  also :  "  The  witness  of  thousands  in  high 
positions  among  the  native  officials  would  sustain  me  in  this  view.  It 
is  not  long  since  I  saw  a  statement,  credited  to  the  most  prominent 
Brahman  in  South  India,  advising  the  whole  Pariah  community,  which 
numbers  millions,  to  embrace  Christianity  as  their  only  hope,  since 
Hinduism  had  no  place  for  them,  and  no  relief  to  offer  for  the  evils 
under  which  they  suffer."  The  Rev.  W.  A.  Wilson,  of  the  Canadian 
Presbyterian  Mission,  forwards,  from  Rutlam,  India,  a  communication 
from  an  educated  Hindu  gentleman,  of  orthodox  standing,  giving  his 
opinion,  even  from  a  Hindu  point  of  view,  as  to  the  value  of  missions  in 
India,  which,  considering  its  source,  has  especial  weight.*  The  Rev. 
R.  M.  Paterson,  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  Mission,  Gujrat,  furnishes 
also  some  expressions  of  native  opinion,  transcribed  from  a  recent  issue 
of  the  Oudh  Akhbar,  which  are  significant  in  this  connection.* 

The  Rev.  C.  F.  Gates,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Harpoot,  Turkey, 

•  Without  attempting  to  quote  the  entire  communication,  the  following  passage 
may  be  given  as  indicating  its  trend : 

"  Permit  me  to  say  that  it  is  in  more  than  one  way  that  I  have  been  constantly 
brought  into  contact  with  missionaries  and  native  Christians  in  certain  places  in 
Rajpntana  and  Central  India,  and  have  seen  their  works  and  heard  their  preachings 
for  many  years.  From  what  I  could  gather  from  this  experience  of  mine,  I  may 
say  that  those  who  have  received  the  light  of  Christian  teachings  have  presented 
quite  a  different  spectacle  as  regards  their  habits  and  social  lives.  The  foundation 
of  the  old  bigotries  has  been  utterly  shaken  in  their  minds,  which  has  proved  in 
more  than  one  way  beneficial  to  society.  Christianity  has  always  denounced  in- 
temperance, immorality,  cruelty,  self-torture,  slavery,  neglect  of  the  poor  and  sick, 
the  subject  position  of  Indian  women,  caste,  superstitious  customs,  and  insanitary 
conditions,  which  have  come  to  be  looked  upon  by  people  at  large  as  so  many  per- 
nicious evils.  ...  In  fact,  there  is  a  progress  with  rapid  strides  towards  the  ame- 
lioration of  the  conditions  of  the  people." 

See  also  the  excerpts  from  the  address  of  Dr.  Bhandarkar,  quoted  supra,  p.  31. 

*  The  following  extracts  from  this  source  indicate  with  sufficient  plainness  the 
writer's  opinion  of  missionary  instruction  as  a  moral  education : 

"  Recently  a  Brahman  lad,  having  embraced  Christianity  in  Madras,— which,  by 
the  way,  is  nothing  new,— has  set  our  Indian  brains  going,  and,  as  '  Satan  always 
finds  mischief  for  idle  hands  to  do,'  our  countrymen  have  been  unusually  busy  these 
few  days  declaring  war  with  the  missionaries.  They  have  evidently  forgotten 
that  more  than  half  of  our  educated  brothers,  who  occupy  seats  in  most  of  the 
public  and  private  offices  in  India,  are  indebted  to  Christian  missionaries  for  what 
little  they  know.  We  all  acknowledge  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  our  chil- 
dren  to  receive  moral  training  in  order  that  they  may  be  helped  to  lead  a  good 
life  in  the  future,  but  how  this  is  to  be  accomplished  no  one  knows?  Beyond 
what  the  boy  learns  in  the  school,  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any  other  source 
from  which  he  could  be  taught  morality." 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      87 

in  a  private  letter  to  the  author,  relates  an  incident  which  indicates  the 
estimate  put  by  a  prominent  official  upon  the  social  results  of  Protestan- 
tism  in  a  Turkish  village.     He  states  that  the  Governor  of  Mardin  had 
occasion  to  make  a  tour  among  some  of  the  villages  where  Protestant 
mission  work  had  been  conducted.     As  he  was  about  leaving  the  village 
of  Midyat  to  return  to  his  home,  "  the  officials  and  dignitaries  of  the 
various  communities  accompanied  him  out  of  the  village  to  escort  him 
a  little  way  on  his  journey.     When  the  time  came  for  them  to  take  leave 
of  him,  he  beckoned  the  pastor  of  the  evangelical  community  to  come 
forward,  and  said  to  him  before  all  the  assembly :    '  I  want  you  to 
make  the  people  of  this  mountain  Protestants  as  fast  as  possible.     I 
have  visited  the  jails  and  I  do  not  find  Protestants  in  jail ;  I  have  ex- 
amined the  tax  lists  and  I  find  very  few  of  them  in  arrears.     The 
Protestant  villages  are  the  most  peaceful  and  the  best  ordered,  and  the 
members  of  that  sect  are  the  best  citizens,  and  so  I  want  you  to  make 
the  people  of  this  mountain  Protestants."  "    Another  missionary  in  the 
Turkish  Empire,  referring  to  the  early  reluctance  of  the  Armenian 
people,  clergy  and  laity,  to  welcome  Protestant  missions,  contrasts  the 
prevalent  sentiment  of  cordiality  at  the  present  time  as  indicating  their 
appreciation  of  the  benefits  which  missions  have  brought  them.    "  To- 
day," he  writes,  "  the  leaders  of  the  Armenian  race  deeply  respect  us, 
and  are  profoundly  grateful  for  the  service  we  have  done.     They  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  it  is  our  work  of  instruction,  in  the  wide  sense  of  the 
word,  which  has  awakened  in  their  people  a  desire  for  intellectual,  so- 
cial, and  spiritual  progress,  and  has  given  them  a  clear  and  impressive 
idea  of  what  is  essential  to  such  progress." 

Dr.  J.  P.  Cochran,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Urumiah,  Persia, 
has  forwarded  to  the  author  some  opinions  expressed  to  him  by 
prominent  natives  upon  this  subject.  We  have  not  space  to  print 
them,  but  they  indicate  an  intelligent  and  sympathetic  appreciation  of 
the  power  of  Christianity  as  a  remedy  for  social  evils.  "  The  Per- 
sians," writes  Dr.  George  W.  Holmes,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  at 
Ramadan,  "  recognize  their  degeneracy,  and  realize  that  there  is  no 
hope  of  their  redemption  except  through  something  outside  of  them- 
selves.  In  conversation  with  a  prominent  mujtahad  recently,  in  Ker- 
manshah,  he  bewailed  the  fact  that,  while  all  these  good  teachings,  as 
he  put  it,  were  to  be  found  in  his  own  land,  it  was  left  for  the  Christians 
to  practise  them,  while  the  Moslems  paid  no  heed  to  them." 

The  Rev.  J.  Pearse  (L.  M.  S.),  of  Madagascar,  has  forwarded  the 
translation  of  a  carefully  written  article  by  a  native,  on  "  The  Blessings 
we  receive  from  the  Bible  apart  from  Salvation."    His  intelligent  treat- 


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88 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


ment  of  the  theme  furnishes  an  interesting  brief  on  the  whole  subject 
from  the  native  standpoint.' 

The  Rev.  George  W.  Chamberlain,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  in 
Bahia,  Brazil,  relates  the  following  incident.  In  conversing  recently 
with  the  chief  magistrate  of  a  large  district,  he  was  interested  to  hear 
him  remark  that  one  of  the  most  turbulent  sections,  which  had  for- 
merly given  him  a  great  deal  of  worry,  was  now  in  charge  of  an  inspector 
who  had  become  a  Protestant.  The  magistrate  had  recently  paid  a 
visit  to  the  old  inspector's  home,  and  found  him  a  devout  student  of 
the  Bible,  and  soon  discovered  that  through  the  influence  of  that  book 
he  had  gathered  the  moral  force  to  rule  his  constituency.  The  principles 
which  he  found  in  the  Scriptures  had  been  applied  to  the  social  ques- 
tions which  used  to  occasion  so  much  trouble,  and  had  secured  a 
peaceable  and  happy  solution.  "  If  I  could  have  in  every  quarter  of 
this  district,"  remarked  the  magistrate,  "a  man  like  that,  my  office 
would  be  a  sinecure ;  I  should  have  nothing  to  do." 


XI 


In  addition  to  the  sources  from  which  we  have  gathered  credible 

testimony  as  to  the  actual  influence  of  Christian  missions  upon  heathen 

Valuable  testimony     society,  there  IS  Still   some   important    evidence 

from  laymen  and  gov-   which  might  be  collated  from  the  writings  of  mer- 

crnment  officials  as  to  «•    •   i  j       i         i 

the  social  value  of      chants,  officials,  and  Other  laymen  not  personally 
missions.  identified  with  missions,  but  who  nevertheless  speak 

from  observation.  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  formerly  Governor  of  Bombay,  in 
a  lecture  on  "  Christianity  suited  to  all  forms  of  Civilisation,"  delivered 
on  behalf  of  the  London  Christian  Evidence  Society,  in  1872,  re- 
marks: "Whatever  you  may  be  told  to  the  contrary,  the  teaching 
of  Christianity  among  160,000,000  of  civilised,  industrious  Hindus 
and  Mohammedans  in  India  is  effecting  changes  moral,  social,  and 
political,  which  for  extent  and  rapidity  of  effect  are  far  more  extraor- 

1  The  paper  may  be  summarized  as  follows:  (i)  the  influence  of  the  Bible  in 
changing  evil  customs,  several  of  which,  such  as  divination,  divorce,  polygamy, 
idolatry,  slave-dealing,  and  infanticide,  are  specially  referred  to;  (2)  the  power 
of  the  Bible  in  banishing  immorality ;  (3)  its  influence  in  strengthening  and  devel- 
oping character ;  (4)  the  inspiration  derived  from  the  Bible  in  calling  out  and 
developing  every  good  quality.  The  writer  refers  also  to  the  stimulus  to  education 
and  to  general  progress  in  civilization.  He  enforces  his  points  clearly,  and  from 
the  standpoint  of  one  who  has  observed  the  progress  of  these  social  changes. 


\  iliii. 


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THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS       89 

dinary  than  anything  that  you  or  your  fathers  have  witnessed  in 
modern  Europe." » 

Lord  Napier,  late  Governor  of  Madras,  said :  "  I  have  broken  the 
missionary's  bread,  I  have  been  present  at  his  ministrations,  I  have  wit- 
nessed his  teaching,  I  have  seen  the  beauty  of  his  life.  The  benefits 
of  missionary  enterprise  are  felt  in  three  directions— in  converting, 
civilising,  and  teaching  the  Indian  people.  It  is  not  easy  to  overrate  the 
value  in  this  vast  empire  of  a  class  of  Englishmen  of  pious  lives  and 
disinterested  labors,  living  and  moving  in  the  most  forsaken  places, 
walking  between  the  Government  and  the  people,  with  devotion  to 
both,  the  friends  of  right,  the  adversaries  of  wrong,  impartial  spectators 
of  good  and  evil." 

Sir  Richard  Temple,  CLE.,  LL.D.,  late  Governor  of  Bombay, 
and  Finance  Minister  of  India,  in  a  speech  delivered  before  the  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Society  in  London,  in  1883,  pays  the  following  tribute  to 
Indian  missionaries :    "  The  names  of  Carey,  and  Ward,  and  Marsh- 
man,  which  you  read  about,  are  to  me  living  memories,  and  not  only  to 
me,  but  to  thousands  of  my  fellow-countrymen  in  the  East,  and,  what 
is  more,  to  many  millions  of  natives.     These  are  memories  of  men  who 
were  the  pioneers  of  civilisation  and  of  humane  refinement,  the  earliest 
propag-itors  of  Christian  literature  amongst  the  heathen.     The  results, 
indeed,  of  their  work  are  to  be  counted  among  the  peaceful  glories  of 
England  and  a  portion  of  that  national  heritage  which  is  splendid  in 
the  highest  sense  of  the  term.  ...  As  an  old  Finance  Minister  of 
India,  I  ought  to  know,  if  anybody  does,  when  the  money's  worth  is 
got  by  any  operation ;  and  having  myself  also  administered,  from  first 
to  last,  provinces  which  comprise  nearly  half  British  India,  I  say  that, 
of  all  the  departments  I  have  ever  administered,  I  never  saw  one  more 
efficient  than  the  missionary  department,  and  of  all  the  hundreds  of 
officers  I  had  under  my  command,  European  officers  and  gentlemen,  I 
have  never  seen  a  better  body  of  men  than  the  Protestant  missionaries. 
Of  all  the  departments  I  have  administered,  I  have  never  known  one  in 
which  a  more  complete  result  was  obtained  than  in  the  department— the 
grand  department— which  is  represented  by  the  Protestant  missions."  2 
Lord  Herschell,  formerly  Lord  Chancellor  of  England,  in  an  ad- 


-  i| 


*l 


\ 


I 


r' 

\  ^1 


>  Consalt  for  farther  testimonies,  "  Laymen's  Opinions  of  the  Value  of  Missions 
in  India,"  published  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and  "  Are 
Foreign  Missions  Doing  any  Good?  "  (London,  Elliot  Stock,  1894).  Cf.  also  quota- 
tions from  Sir  W.  Macgregor,  Administrator  of  British  New  Guinea,  and  Sir  Giarles 
A.  Elliott,  late  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal,  found  upon  p.  374  of  VoL  I. 

*  Temple,  "Oriental  Experience,"  pp.  155,  164,  165. 


I 

I 

IB  ' 


-^T. 


90 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


\'   :' 


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i  ;jH 


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dress  at  the  meeting  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  May,  1895, 
stated  with  judicial  fairness  and  discrimination  his  own  view  cf  missions : 
"  Can  it  be  doubted,"  said  his  lordship, "  that  owing  to  the  work  of  this 
Society  tens  of  thousands  of  men  and  women  have  been  led  to  adopt 
an  altogether  different  idea  of  life ;  that  their  ideal  has  been  changed, 
that  from  being  a  brutal  and  degraded  one  it  has  become  a  lofty  and 
noble  one?  And  who  can  doubt  that  with  the  hope  set  before  them, 
with  the  faith  that  inspired  them,  their  lives  have  not  become  merely 
changed,  but  have  been  unspeakably  happier  as  well  as  nobler?  How 
are  you  going  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  happiness  conferred  on  one 
individual,  to  say  nothing  of  tens  of  thousands  ?  "  In  the  English  Blue 
Book  containing  the  Report  on  the  Moral  and  Material  Progress  of 
India  for  1871-72,  the  Secretary  of  State  for  India  has  recorded  his 
estimate  of  the  social  benefits  of  missions  in  the  following  language : 
"  The  Government  of  India  cannot  but  acknowledge  the  great  obliga- 
tion under  which  it  is  laid  by  the  benevolent  exertions  made  by  mis- 
sionaries, whose  blameless  example  and  self-denying  labours  are  infusing 
new  vigour  into  the  stereotyped  life  of  the  great  populations  placed 
under  English  rule,  and  are  preparing  them  to  be  in  every  way  better 
men  and  better  citizens  of  the  great  empire  in  which  they  dwell."  '  A 
still  earlier  testimony  concerning  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  is  found  in 
the  report  of  a  Parliamentary  Committee  presented  in  1842,  which  at- 
tributed the  "considerable  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  improve- 
ment "  of  the  people  of  Sierra  Leone  to  "  the  valuable  exertions  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society."  2 

A  correspondent  from  Madagascar,  in  a  communication  to  T/if 
Times  (London),  writes  on  April  30,  1895,  of  his  impressions  of  the 
civilizing  results  of  missions  in  terms  of  surprise  and  admiration.  "  I 
was,  indeed,  amazed,"  he  writes,  "to  find  here  so  high  a  degree  of  civili- 
sation—and it  does  not  appear  to  be  a  civilisation  that  lies  merely  on 
the  surface.  In  no  part  of  the  world  that  I  have  visited  can  our  mis- 
sionaries show  anything  approaching  to  the  admirable  results  apparent 
in  the  central  highlands  of  Madagascar,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  they 
should  not  in  time  bring  the  barbarous  outer  tribes  similarly  under  their 
beneficial  influence.  Even  those  travellers  who,  coming  from  South 
Africa  and  elsewhere,  have  formed  a  poor  opinion  of  missionary  work, 
are  compelled  to  testify  to  its  marvellous  success  in  Madagascar." 

Commissioner  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  to  quote  again  from  his  recent 

1  Blue  Book,  No.  172,  p.  129.     Cf.  for  further  extracts  from  the  lame  Blue 
Bo<)k,  "  Are  Foreign  Missions  Doing  any  Good?  "  pp.  57,  58. 
*  "  Report  of  Church  Missionary  Society,  1897,"  p.  68. 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA  IN  MISSIONS      91 


volume  on  British  Central  Africa,  has  devoted  a  chapter  to  "  Mission- 
aries."    He  speaks  of  them  in  the  main  with  great  consideration,  and 
pays  repeated  tributes  to  their  services,  which  he  regards  as  of  high 
value.     The  few  deprecating  criticisms  he  makes  are,  in  cases  where 
they  apply,  not  undeserved,  and  his  views  as  to  the  desirability  of 
banishing  cant,  censoriousness,  and  arrogance  from  the  missionary 
vocabulary  and  demeanor  are  such  as  all  true-hearted  and  sensible 
missionaries  will  cordially  endorse.     "  No  person,"  he  writes,  "  who  de- 
sires to  make  a  truthful  statement  would  deny  the  great  good  effected 
by  missionary  enterprise   in   Central   Africa.  .   .   .  Any  thoughtful, 
cultured  man,  no  matter  of  what  religion,  who  is  alive  to  the  inter- 
ests of  humanity  in  general,  must  after  careful  examination  of  mission 
work  accord  this  meed  of  praise  to  the  results  which  have  followed 
the  attempts  to  evangelise  Central  Africa.    .   .   .    Missionary  work 
in  British  Central  Africa,  believe  me,  has  only  to  tell  the  plain  truth 
and  nothing  but  the  truth  to  secure  sympathy  and  support.  .  .  .  There 
is  an  undoubted  tendency  on  the  part  of  missionaries  to  hold  and  set 
forth  the  opinion  that  no  one  ever  did  any  good  in  Africa  but  them- 
selves.    That  they  have  done  more  good  than  armies,  navies,  confer- 
ences, and  treaties  have  yet  done,  I  am  prepared  to  admit ;  that  they 
have  prepared  the  way  for  the  direct  and  just  rule  of  European  Powers 
and  for  the  extension  of  sound  and  honest  commerce,  I  iiave  frequently 
asserted ;  but  they  are  themselves  to  some  extent  only  a  passing  phase- 
only  the  John- the- Baptists,  the  forerunners,  of  organized  churches  and 
settled  social  politics.  .  .  .  When  the  history  of  the  great  African 
States  of  the  future  comes  to  be  written,  the  arrival  of  the  first  mission- 
ary will  with  many  of  these  new  nations  be  the  first  historical  event 
in  their  annals.   .  .   .  Who  can  say,  with   these   facts   before  him, 
with  the  present  condition  of  the  natives  in  South  Africa  to  consider, 
with  the  gradual  civilisation  of  Western  Africa,  that  missionary  work 
has  been  a  failure  or  anything  buc  a  success  in  the  Dark  Continent?  " ' 

1  Johnston,  "  British  Central  Africa,"  pp.  190,  192,  204,  205.  Some  further 
sentences  from  the  same  volume  should  be  quoted :  "  It  is  they,  too,  who  in  many 
cases  have  first  taught  the  natives  carpentry,  joinery,  masonry,  tailoring,  cobbling, 
engineering,  bookkeeping,  printing,  and  European  cookery ;  to  say  nothing  of  read- 
ing, writing,  arithmetic,  and  a  smattering  of  general  knowledge.  Almost  invariably 
it  has  been  to  missionaries  that  the  natives  of  Interior  Africa  have  owed  their  first 
acquaintance  with  the  printing-press,  the  turning-lathe,  the  mangle,  the  flat-iron, 
the  sawmill,  and  the  brick  mould.  Industrial  teaching  is  coming  more  and  more 
into  favoor,  and  its  immediate  results  in  British  Central  Africa  have  been  most 
encouraging.  Instead  of  importing  printers,  carpenters,  store  clerks,  cooks,  teleg- 
raphists, gardeners,  natural-history  collectors,  from  England  or  India,  we  are  grad> 


h: 


ii 


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M 


»a  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND   'OCIAL  PROGXESS 

Commander  Charles  O'Neil,  of  the  United  States  Navy.  ha.  re- 
cently  written  his  impressions  of  American  missionaries  m  Turkey. 
Professor  W.  M.  Ramsay,  in  his  recent  book,  entitled  "  Impressions  of 
Turkey  "  thus  records  his  conviction  concerning  the  value  of  missions, 
based  upon  observations  made  during  twelve  years  of  personal  sojourn 
and  travel  in  Asia  Minor:  "  I  was  driven  by  the  force  of  facto  and 
experience  to  the  opinion  that  the  mission  has  been  the  strongest,  as 
well  as  most  beneficent,  influence  in  causing  the  movement  toward 
civilisation,  which  has  been  perceptible  in  varying  degrees  among  all 
the  peoples  of  Turkey,  but  which  has  been  zealously  opposed  and  al- 
most arrested  by  the  present  Sultan,  with  the  support  of  the  six  Euro- 
pean Powers." 

The  Hon.  Charles  Denby,  formeriy  United  States  Minister  to  China, 
in  one  of  his  official  despatches  expresses  in  the  most  cordial  terms  his 
sense  of  the  value  of  missionary  efforts  in  that  empire.^  Mr.  Valentine 
Chirol,  a  special  correspondent  of  T/u  Times  (London),  in  his  published 
volume,  entitled  "  The  Far  Eastern  Question,"  in  the  chapter  on  mis- 

ually  becoming  able  to  obtain  them  amongst  the  natives  of  the  country,  who  are 
trained  in  the  missionaries'  schools,  and  who.  having  been  given  simple.  >»holesome 
local  education,  have  not  had  their  heads  turne<l.  and  are  not  above  the.r  station  m 

''^'i  '•Vy°experience  with  the  American  missionaries  in  the  Ottoman  Empire  was 
most  favorable  to  them,  and  whenever  the  occasion  presents  itself  1  do  not  hesitate 
,0  commend  them  and  their  work.  I  can  always  be  relied  on  and  referred  to  as  a 
warm  friend  and  ally  of  our  countrymen  and  women  who  are  labormg  in  the  cause 
of  Christianity  and  education  in  Turkey ;  they  have  done  and  are  domg  noble  work 
the  far-reaching  influence  and  value  of  which  cannot  be  overestimated.  -Quoted 
in  The  Chunk  al  Home  and  Abroad,  August,  1897.  p.  123. 

a  "  As  far  as  my  knowledge  extends.  1  can  and  do  say  that  the  missionaries  in 
China  are  self-sacrificing;  that  their  lives  are  pure;  that  they  are  devoted  to  their 
work ;  that  their  influence  is  beneficial  to  the  natives ;  that  the  arts  and  sciences  and 
civilization  are  greatly  spread  by  their  efforts;  that  many  useful  Western  books  are 
translated  by  them  into  Chinese;  that  they  are  the  leaders  in  all  charitable  work, 
giving  largely  themselves,  and  personally  disbursing  the  funds  with  which  they  are 
entrusted;  that  they  do  make  converts,  and  such  converts  are  mentally  benefited  by 

conversion Missionaries  are  the  pioneers  of  trade  and  commerce.     Civiliza- 

tion.  learning,  and  instruction,  breed  new  wants  which  commerce  supplies.  Look  at 
the  electric  telegraph,  now  in  every  province  in  China  but  one.  Look  at  the  steam- 
ships which  ply  along  the  coast  from  Hong  Kong  to  Newchwang.  and  on  the  Yang- 
tse  up  to  Ichang.  Look  at  the  cities  which  have  sprung  up.  like  Shanghai.  Tientsin. 
Hankow-handsome  foreign  cities,  object-lessons  to  the  Chinese.  Look  at  the  rail- 
road now  being  built  from  the  Yellow  Sea  to  the  Amur,  of  which  about  two  hundred 
miles  are  completed.  Will  «iy  one  say  that  the  fifteen  hundred  Protestant  mission- 
aries in  China,  and  perhaps  more  of  Catholics,  have  not  contributed  to  these  re- 
sults? "-Quoted  in  The  Missionary  Herald,  August.  1895,  p.  3". 


A    RiPRi-i  NTxTivi     Missionary    I'hvski  \n    in    China. 


iC.  I    M 


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THE  DAWN  OF  A  SOCIOLOGICAL  ERA   IN  MISSIONS      93 

■ionary  outrages  in  China,  refen  to  miMionafie*  and  their  work  with 
ur  ':ourteiy  and  appreciation.' 

-omparing  India  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  with  the  India 
of  to-day,"  writes  the  Hon.  John  W.  Foster,  "  a  great  improvement  is 
to  be  noted  in  the  moral  and  social  conditions.  The  prohibition  of 
human  sacrifice  and  of  torture  in  the  religious  rites,  of  the  burning  of 
widows,  of  the  killing  of  female  children,  and  the  efforts  at  reform  in 
the  practice  of  child  marriage,  are  all  direct  results  of  the  exposure 
and  condemnation  by  the  missionaries.  The  establishment  of  schools 
and  colleges,  which  was  inaugurated  by  the  missions,  has  created  a 
widespread  zeal  for  education  hitherto  unknown  in  the  land.  The 
awakened  interest  of  the  Brahmans  in  the  purification  of  their  religion, 
and  the  efforts  of  reformers  to  establish  a  Hindu  worship  more  in  ac- 
cord with  the  enlightened  spirit  of  the  age,  are  the  direct  outgrowth  of 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  If  not  a  single  conversion  to 
Christianity  could  be  recorded  in  the  past  century,  these  reforms  and 
blessings  alone  would  be  an  abundant  reward  for  all  the  labors  of  the 
missionaries,  and  the  money  contributed  by  the  churches  for  their 

support."- 

It  would  seem  that  the  spontaneous  testimonies  to  the  social  influ- 
ence of  missionary  example  and  the  favorable  comments  upon  the 
benefits  to  society  of  missionary  effort,  quoted  in  the  present  lecture, 
should  be  sufficient,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  vindicate  missions  from 
aspersions.  We  have  little  expectation,  however,  that  this  will  be  so, 
since  it  is  not  likely  that  the  unfriendly  critics  of  missions  will  read 
them,  and,  moreover,  if  it  has  been  possible  in  the  past  for  some  to 
fail  so  completely  to  discover  the  good  that  has  resulted  from  missions, 
it  is  probable  that  others  in  their  turn  will  express  the  same  hasty  and 
misleading  opinions  concerning  them.     In  the  judgment  of  some  of 

»  "  Two  points  alone  need  be  borne  in  mind.  First  o(  -11,  foreign  missionwies, 
whatever  we  may  think  of  them,  are  just  as  much  entitled  to  protection  in  the  lawful 
pursuit  of  their  calling,  under  the  treaties  to  which  China  has  subscribed,  as  the 
foreign  merchant  or  the  foreign  official.  Secondly,  even  if,  judged  by  a  mundane 
standard,  the  material  results  have  not  been  proportionate  to  the  amount  of  blood 
and  treasure  expended,  missionary  work  in  China  is  not  only  a  proselytising  but  also 
a  humanising  agency,  and  every  missionary  establishment  is  a  centre  from  which 
civilising  influences  radiate  over  the  whole  are."  of  its  operations.  .  .  .  Missionary 
work  is  practically  the  only  agency  through  which  the  influence  of  Western  civili. 
sation  can  at  present  reach  the  masses  "  (pp.  79,  80). 

»  From  an  address  by  the  Hon.  John  W.  Foster,  given  at  the  Union  Missionary 
Meeting  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  New  York  City,  at  Carnegie  Hall,  No- 
vember  15,  189$. 


4 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


II 


our  readers  such  an  array  of  testimonia  may  seem  unnecessary  and  per- 
haps unbecoming,  but  in  view  of  the  strange  susceptibihty  of  many 
minds  to  every  wind  of  reckless  comment  upon  missionaries  and  their 
work,  from  whatever  source  it  blows,  a  reassuring  word  from  witnesses 
whose  opinion  inspires  confidence  seems  occasionally  to  be  in  place. 

In  concluding  this  survey  of  the  fundamental  transformations 
wrought  by  missions  in  non-Christian  society  preparatory  to  coming 
changes  in  the  higher  life  of  the  nations,  we  must  return  with  emphasis 
to  that  consummate  and  crowning  feature  of  their  influence— their 
capacity  to  produce  Christianized  manhood.  This  individual  product 
is  the  essential  and  ultimate  basis  of  an  ideal  social  status.  We  need 
not  insist  that  this  ideal  can  never  be  attained  apart  from  Christianity ; 
it  is  enough  to  show  that  it  never  has  been  attained,  and  the  irresistible 
inference  is  that  it  never  will  be.  Christendom  is  a  convincing  testi- 
mony that  Christianity  at  least  works  in  the  right  direction,  while  the 
non-Christian  world  sufficiently  indicates  that  everything  else  works  in 
the  wrong  direction.  We  may  leave  it  an  open  question  how  far  Chris- 
tendom has  advanced  towards  perfection.  It  is  a  closed  question  that, 
where  Christianity  has  not  wrought  for  the  social  wt  e  of  man,  the 
tendency  has  been  towards  deterioration.  Christian  missions  in  the 
light  of  history  are  the  social  hope  of  the  world.  We  see  as  yet  but 
the  breaking  of  the  dawn,  but  the  time  will  come  when  the  soft  glow 
of  the  morning  shall  brighten  and  expand  into  the  full  light  of  day,  and 
there  will  be  God's  peace  and  God's  righteousness  in  all  the  new  earth. 


LITERATURE  AND  AUTHORITIES  FOR  LECTURE  V 


III 


The  itudent  Aould  con.ult  :dso  the  bibUogmphies  of  Uctum  I.  u>d  IV..  in  Volume  I.    M«y 
bookToftl^^e  omitt«l  in  d»  foUowing  U...  e,p«i.Uy  in  *e  biog»phical  .ecuoo.  b«:.u.e  Jready 

'"'K^'jre.  of  mUsionwie.  .nd  native  Chmdan,  are  .pedally  not«l  he«.  «.  «  luminou.  »un:e  of 
evid^Tconfimutory  of  the  position,  taken  in  the  p«c«ling  lec.u«.  Older  b»«^P^  «"";'^' 
be  found  in  the  bibliography  ..  .he  end  of  Volume  1.  of  the  "  Report  of  the  Centen«y  Conference. 
Lon:<on.  18M."  and  in  the  Appendix  to  Volume  I.  of  "  The  Encyclopedm  of  Miuion^ 


N.V.>  New  York. 
P.  s  Philadelphia. 


C.<:  Chicago. 
L.  m  London, 
a,  d.>oedate. 


B.B  Boston. 
E,H  Edinburgh. 


L  RECENT  STUDIES  IN  MISSION  HISTORY 


Allen,  W.  O.  B.,  and  McClure,  Ed- 
MUND,    Two    Hundred    Years:     The 
History  of  the  Society  for  Promoting 
Christian      Knvivledge,      itgS-iSgS. 
L.,  S.  P.  C.  K.;    N.  Y.,  E.  &  J.  B. 
Young  &  Co.,  1898. 
Barnes,  Irene  H.,  Behind  the  Pardah  : 
The  Story  of  C.  E.  Z.  M.  S.  Work  in 
India.     L.,  Marshall  Bros.,  1897. 
Barrows,  Rev.  J.  H..   The  Christian 
Conquest   of  Asia.     N.   Y.,  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons,  1899. 
Barry,  Rev.  A.,  The  Ecclesiasttcal  Ex. 
fansion  of  England  in   the  Growth 
of  the  Anglican  Communion.     L.  and 
N.  Y.,  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1895. 
Beach,  Rev.  Harlan  P.,  Dawn  on  the 
Hills   of   T'ang;    or.   Missions    tn 
China.      N.    Y.,   Student   Volunteer 
Movement,  1898. 
Brain,  Belle  M.,  The  Transformation 
of  Hawaii.      N.  Y.  and  C,  Fleming 
H.  Revell  Co.,  1899. 
Caldecott,  Professor  A.,  The  Church 
in  the  West  Indies.     L.,  S.  P.  C.  K. ; 
N.  Y.,  E.  &  J.  B.  Young  &  Co.,  1898. 
Cavalier,   Rev.  A.  R.,   In  Northern 
India :  A  Story  of  Mission  Work  tn 
Zenanas,  Hospitals,  Schools,  and  Vil- 
lages. L.,  S.  W.  Partridge  &  Co.,  1899. 
Classified  Digest  of  the  Records  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel in  Foreign  Parts,  ijot-t8^a.     L., 
Office  o£  S.  P.  G.,  1895. 


Coillard,    Rev.    Francois,    On    the 
Threshold  of  Central  Africa  :  A  Record 
of  Twenty   Years'  Pioneering  among 
the  Barotsi    of  the    Upper    Zambesi. 
(Translated  from  the  French  by  his 
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L.,  Hodder  &  Stonghton,  1897. 
Elmslie,  Dr.  W.  A.,  Among  the  Wild 
Ngoni.     E.,   Oliphant,    Anderson    & 
Ferrier,    1899;    N.  Y.,   Fleming   H. 
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Gale,    Rev.   J.    S.,   Korean  Sketches. 
N.  Y.   and  C,   Fleming  H.   Revell 
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Galloway,    Bishop    C.    B.,    Modem 
Missions:     Their   Evidential    Value. 
Nashville.  Tenn.,  Publishing  House 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  1897. 
GiFFORD,  Rev.  D.  L.,  Every -day  Life 
in  Korea.     N.  Y.  and  C,  Fleming  H. 
Revell  Co.,  1898. 
Graham,  Rev.  J.  A.,   The  Missionary 
Expansion  of  the  Reformed  Church. 
L.,  A.   &  C.   Black,    1898;    N.    Y., 
published  by  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
under  title  of  Missionary  Expansion 
since  the  Reformation. 
Guinness,  M.  Geraldine,   The  Story 
of  the  China  Inland  Mission.     2  vols. 
L.,  Morgan  &  Scott,  1894. 
Guinness,  Lucy  E.,  Across  India  at  the 
Dawn  of  the  Twentieth  Century.     L., 
The  Religious  Tract  Society ;  N.  Y. 
and  C,  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  1899. 

9S 


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II 

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f 

HoDOER,  Edwin,  Conquests  of  the  Cross. 

3  vols.     L.,  Cassell  &  Co.,  1891. 
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Hopkins,  Dr.  S.  Armstrong-,  Within 
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Johnston,  Rev.  James,  China  and 
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Lang,  Rev.  John  Marshall,  T/te  Ex- 
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Leonard,  Rev.  D.  L.,  A  Hundred 
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Lovett,  Richard,  The  History  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  tjgs-iSgj, 

2  vols.     L,,  H.  Frowde,  1899. 
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Martin,  Rev.  Chalmers,  Apostolic 
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MoRSHEAD,  A.  E.  M.  Anderson-,  The 
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MuiRHEAU,  Rev.  W.,  and  Parker,  Rev. 
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Noble,  Frederic  Perry,  The  Re- 
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Orr,  Rev.  James,  Neglected  Factors  in  the 
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Reid,  Rev.  J.  M.,  Missions  and  Mis- 
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Ritter,  Rev.  H.,  A  History  of  Prates- 
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CHRISTIANS 

(A  aelected  list,  mostly  of  recent  issues.) 


Barber,  Rev.  W.  T.  A.,  David  Hill, 
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Battersby,  Charles  F.  Harford-, 
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BoVET,    Felix,    Count   Zinzendorf:  A 
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Brock,  William,  A  Young  Congo  Mis- 
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Bruce,  Mrs.WvsDiCAM  Knight-,  Kha. 
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Bryson,  Mary  F.,  Life  of  John  Ken- 
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BtCKLAND,  Rev.  A.   R.,  John  Ilorden, 
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Co.x,  Rev.  W.  S.,  Early  Promoted:  A 
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Craighead,  J.  G.,  The  Story  of  Mar- 
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Dennis,  Mrs.  James  S.,  Sketch  of  the 
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Doncaster,     E.     P.,    Faithful     unto 
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Goodwin,  Harvey,  Charles  Frederick 

Mackenzie.     L.,  Bell  &  Son,  1864. 
Gracey,  Mrs.  J.  T.,  Eminent  Mission- 
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Green,  Dr.  Samuel  Fisk,   Life  and 
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Hall,  Rosetta  Sher'vood,    The  Life 
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Harris,  S.  F.,  ^   Century  of  Mission- 
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Haydn,  Rev.  H.  C,  American  Heroes 
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Heani.EY,   Rev.   R.  M.,  A  .Memoir  of 
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Hughes,  Thomas,  David  Livingstone. 
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HO  YoNG  Mi,  The  Way  of  Faith  Illus- 


li;|!| 


l]i 


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Sons,  1890. 
Sketches  of  Indian  Christians.  (Collected 
from  various  sources ;  with  an  Intro- 
duction by    Mr.    S.    Satthianadhan.) 
Madras,  Christian  Literature  Society, 
1896. 
Smith,  George,  Bishop  Heber,  Second 
Bishopof  Calcutta,  1783-1826.  L. ,  John 
Murray,  1895.     (Biographies  of  Mar- 
tyn,  Corey,  and  Duff,  by  Dr.  George 
Smith,  will  be  found  entered  on  p.  69 
of  Vol.  I.) 


Smith,  Ckorge,  Life  of  Dr.  John  Wil- 

soK.     L.,  John  Murray,  1878. 
Smith,    Mrs.    John  Ja.mes,    William 
Knibb,  Missionary  in  Jamaica.     L., 
Alexander  &  Shepheard,   1896.     (Bi- 
ographies of  Knibb  written  by  Hinton, 
1847,  and  by  Sargent,  1849.) 
Stevens,  Rev.  George  B.,   The  Life, 
Letters,  and  Journals  of  the  Rev.  and 
Hon.  Peter  Parker,  M.D.,  Missionniy 
Physician  and  Diplomatist.     B.,  Con- 
gregational Sunday-school  and    Pub- 
lishing Society,  1896. 
Stevens,    Rev.  Simner  W.,  A  Half- 
Century   in  Burma  :  Memoir  of  Ed- 
ivard  Abiel  Stevens,  D.D.     P.,  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Publication  Society,  1897. 
Stock,  Sarah  G.,  Missionary  Heroes  of 
Africa.     L.,    OITice    of    the   London 
Missionary  Society,  1897. 
Taylor,   Charles' E.,    The  Story  of 
Yates     the    Missionary.      Nashville, 
Tenn.,    Sunday-school    Board  of    the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  1898. 
Taylor,  Bishop  William,  The  Story  of 
My  Life.     N.    Y.,  Eaton  &    Mains, 
1896;  L.,  Hodder  it  Stoughton,  1897. 
Trestrail,    Mrs.,   Elizabeth  Sale,   the 
Zenana   Missionary.      L.,    The    Bap- 
tist Tract  and  Book  Society,  1898. 
Ticker,  Rev.  H.  W.,  Life  of  Bishop 
Geori^e  .lui^iistus  .'^ehoyn.    2  vols.    L., 
Welis  Gardner,  D;irton  &  Co.,  i88b. 
Tl-RNER,    H.     F.,  //is    iniiusscs.     (A 
Record  of  Some  of  the  Martyrs  of  the 
Fuhkien  Mission.)    L.,  Simpkin,  Mar- 
shall, Hamilton,  Kent  &  Co.,  1895. 
UciiiMURA,   Kanzo,  Diary  of  a  Japa- 
nese Convert.     N.  V.  and  C,  Fleming 
H.  Revell  Co.,  1895. 
Walsh,  Rt.  Rev.  W.   P.,  Heroes  of  the 
Mission  Field.     Fourth  edition.     N. 
Y.,  Thomas  Whittaker,  1898. 
Walsh,  Rt.  Rev.  W.  V.,  Modem  I/eroes 
of  the  Mission  Field.     Fourth  edition. 
N.  Y.,  Thomas  Whittaker,  1898. 
Ward,  Gertkidf,,  The  Life  of  Charles 
Alan  Smythies,  Bishop  of  the  Uni-.'cr- 
sities'      A/ission    to     Central    Africa. 
(Edited  by  the  Rev.   E.   F.   Rnssell.l 
L.,  Office  of  the  Universities'  Mission 
to  Cf-itral  Africa,  1898. 
Watson,  MiRV  F...  Robert  and  Louisa 
Ste-ivart  (of  Kucheng).     L.,   Marshall 
Brothers,  1895. 
Williams,    F.    Wells.    The  Life  ami 
Letters  of  S.  Wells  Williams.     N.  Y., 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1888. 
Yonge,  C.  M.,  Life  and  Letters  of  Bish- 
op   John    Coleridge    Patteson.     New 
edition.     2  vols.     L.  and  N.  Y.,  The 
Macmillan  Co.,  1898. 


i     '^i; 


■       ':       ^ 


\\ 


C!   ' 


SYNOPSIS  OP  LECTURE  VI 


The  first  three  only  of  these  classified  groups  appear  in  this  volume. 

I.— Results  Manifest  in  the  Individual  Character,  (i)  Temperance 
Reform ;  (a)  Deliverance  from  the  Opium  Habit ;  (3)  Restraint  upon  Gambling ; 
(4)  Establishing  Higher  Standards  of  Personal  Purity;  (5)  Discrediting  Self- 
inflicted  Torture  or  Mutilation ;  (6)  Arresting  Pessimistic  and  Suicidal  Tendencies ; 
(7)  Cultivating  Habits  of  Industry  and  Frugality ;  (8)  Substituting  Christian  Humil- 
ity and  Proper  Self-Respect  for  Barbaric  Pride  and  Foolish  Conceit ;  (9)  Cultivation 
of  the  Personal  Virtues. 

II.— Results  Affecting  Family  Life,  (i)  The  Elevation  of  Woman;  (a) 
Restraining  Polygamy  and  Concubinage;  (3)  Checking  Adultery  and  Divorce; 
(4)  Seeking  the  Abolishment  of  Child  Marriage;  (5)  Alleviating  the  Social  Mis- 
eries of  Widowhood ;  (6)  Mitigating  the  Enforced  Seclusion  of  Woman;  (7)  Im- 
proving the  Condition  of  Domestic  Life  and  Family  Training ;  (8)  Rendering  Aid 
and  Protection  to  Children ;  (9)  Diminishing  Infanticide. 

III.— Results  of  a  Humane  and  Philanthropic  Tendency,  (i)  Hasten- 
ing the  Suppression  of  the  Slave-Trade  and  Labor-Traffic ;  (2)  Aiding  in  the  Over- 
throw of  Slavery ;  (3)  Abolishing  Cannibalism  and  Inhuman  Sports ;  (4)  Arrest- 
ing Human  Sacrifices;  (5)  Banishing  Cruel  Ordeals;  (6)  Initiating  the  Crusade 
against  Foot-Binding;  (7)  Promoting  Prison  Reforms  and  Mitigating  Brutal  Pun- 
ishments; (8)  Securing  Humane  Ministration  to  the  Poor  and  Dependent;  (9) 
Organizing  Famine  Relief;  (10)  Introducing  Modern  Medical  Science;  (11)  Con- 
ducting Medical  Dispensaries,  Infirmaries,  and  Hospitals;  (12)  Founding  Leper 
Asylums  and  Colonies;  (13)  Establishing  Orphan  Asylums;  (14)  Promoting 
Cleanliness  and  Sanitation;  (1$)  Mitigating  the  Brutalities  of  War;  (16)  Instilling 
a  Peaceable  and  Law-Abiding  Spirit. 

IV.— Results  Tending  to  Develop  the  Higher  Life  of  Society,  (i) 
The  Introduction  of  Educational  Facilities;  (2)  Industrial  Training-Schools ;  (3) 
Modern  Methods  of  University  Extension;  (4)  Christian  Associations  for  Young 
Men  and  Women;  ($)  The  Production  of  Wholesome  and  Instructive  Literature; 
(6)  The  Quickening  of  General  Intelligence;  (7)  The  Abolishment  of  Objection- 
able Social  Customs ;  (8)  The  Disintegration  of  Caste. 

v.— Results  Touching  National  Life  and  Character,  (i)  Cultivating 
the  Spirit  of  Freedom ;  (2)  Advocating  a  Just  and  Orderly  System  of  Taxation ; 

(3)  Seeking  to  Purify  Official  Corruption;  (4)  Modifying  Extortion  and  Legal 
Robbery;  (5)  Promoting  the  Reconstruction  of  Laws  and  the  Reform  of  Judicial 
Methods;  (6)  Elevating  the  Standard  of  Government  Service;  (7)  Furthering 
Proper  International  Relations ;  (8)  Serving  the  Interests  of  Science  and  Civilization. 

VI.— Results  Affecting  THE  Commercial  and  Industrial  Status,  (i) 
Commending  New  Standards  of  Commercial  Integrity;  (2)  Establishing  Better 
Methods  of  Transacting  Business;  (3)  Seeking  to  Regulate  Financial  Dealings; 

(4)  Developing  Trade  and  Commerce  with  the  Outside  World;  (J)  Introducing 
Material  Civilization  and  Modern  Facilities. 

VII.— Results  Connected  with  Religious  Faith  and  Practice,  (i)  A 
More  Spiritual  Conception  of  Religion;  (2)  The  Decline  of  Idolatry;  (3)  The 
Overthrow  of  Superstition;  (4)  Associating  Morality  with  Religion;  (5)  Elevat- 
ing the  Standard  of  Personal  Character  in  Religious  Leaders ;  (6)  Teaching  Les- 
sons of  Religions  Freedom  and  Toleration ;  (7}  Cultivtiing  Sabbath  Observance. 

100 


LECTURE  VI 


THE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  MIS- 
SIONS  TO  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


H 

i    i: 


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Ill  i  ^ 


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1  3i 


"  The  coarse  of  humanity  has  been  an  onward  course.  Individaal  men  have 
gone  back,  individaal  nations  have  gone  back,  but  humanity  itself  has  never  receded. 
And  wheresoever  Christianity  has  breathed,  it  lias  accelerated  the  movement  of 
humanity.  It  has  quickened  the  pulses  of  life,  it  has  stimulated  the  incentives  to 
thought,  it  has  tuned  the  passions  into  peace,  it  has  warmed  the  heart  into  brother- 
hood, it  has  fanned  the  imagination  into  genius,  it  has  freshened  the  soul  into  purity. 
The  progress  of  Christian  Europe  has  been  the  progress  of  mind  over  matter.  It 
has  been  the  progress  of  intellect  over  force,  of  political  right  over  arbitrary  power, 
of  human  liberty  over  the  chains  of  slavery,  of  moral  law  over  social  corruption,  of 
order  over  anarchy,  of  enlightenment  over  Jgnorance,  of  life  over  death.  As  we 
survey  that  spectacle  of  the  past,  we  are  impressed  that  the  study  of  history  is  the 
strongest  evidence  for  God.  We  hear  no  argument  from  design,  but  we  feel  the 
breath  of  the  designer.  We  see  the  universal  life  moulding  the  individual  lives, 
the  one  will  dominating  the  many  wills,  the  infinite  wisdom  utilizing  the  finite  folly, 
the  changeless  truth  permeating  the  restless  error,  the  boundless  beneficence  bring- 
ing blessing  out  of  all. 

"  In  the  culture  of  the  past  Thou  [Christ]  art  the  only  modern.  None  felt  with 
Thee  the  sympathy  for  man  as  man.  They  felt  for  man  as  Greek,  cs  Jew,  as 
Roman ;  but  not  as  man— not  as  hopeless,  friendless,  landless.  Thou  hast  de- 
scended below  all  accidents— below  race,  and  clime,  and  kindred.  Thou  hast  gone 
down  beneath  all  qualities— beneath  beauty,  and  virtue,  and  fame.  Thou  hast 
broken  the  barriers  of  caste;  Thou  hast  reached  the  last  motive  for  charity— the 
right  of  hanger  to  bread.  O  Son  of  Man,  Thou  hast  been  before  us.  Thou  hast 
outiun  our  philanthropy;  Thou  hast  anticipated  our  benevolence;  Thou  hast  fore- 
stalled our  charity.  Thou  hast  modelled  our  infirmaries ;  Thou  hast  planned  our 
orphanages ;  Thou  hast  sketched  our  asylums ;  Thou  hast  devised  our  houses  of 
refuge ;  Thou  hast  projected  our  homes  of  reform.  Thou  hast  vindicated  the  claims 
of  the  returned  convict ;  Thou  hast  asserted  the  sacredness  of  infant  life ;  Thou  hast 
given  a  hand  to  the  climbing  steps  of  woman.  Thou  hast  outstripped  both  Peter 
and  John  in  the  race  to  the  ancient  sepulchres  of  humanity;  at  the  end  of  all  our 
progress  we  have  met  Thee."  Rev.  George  Matheso.v,  D.D. 

"  If  we  have  considered  some  of  the  temptations  of  the  first  Christians,  if  we 
know  a  little  of  the  terrible  environment  of  evil  by  which  they  were  encircled,  we 
must  not,  as  we  too  often  do,  forget  how  they  conquered  the  world.  It  was  not  by 
any  despairing  withdrawal  from  city  and  market;  not  by  any  proud  isolation  in 
selfish  security ;  not  by  any  impatient  violence ;  but  by  the  winning  influence  of 
gracious  faith,  they  mastered  the  family,  the  school,  the  empire.  They  were  a  living 
Gospel,  a  message  of  God's  good-will  to  those  with  whom  they  toiled  and  suffered. 
Pure  among  the  self-indulgent,  loving  among  the  factious,  tender  among  the  ruth- 
less, meek  among  the  vainglorious,  firm  in  faith  amidst  the  shaking  of  nations, 
joyous  in  hope  amidst  the  sorrows  of  a  corrupt  society,  they  revealed  to  men  their 
true  destiny,  and  showed  that  it  could  be  attained." 

Bishop  Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  D.D. 


i    "it 


til' 


LECTURE  VI 

* 

THE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  TO 
SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Our  survey  of  the  function  and  efficiency  of  missions  as  instru- 
mental in  preparing  the  way  for  social  changes,  by  introducing  new 
forces,  giving  needed  stimulus,  and  providing  the  unique  equipment 
required,  must  now  be  supplemented  by  a  more  detailed  review  of  pres- 
ent activities  of  a  sociological  import  in  many  fields.  Having  studied 
the  scope  and  fundamental  conditions  of  social  progress  as  affected  by 
missions,  let  us  now  seek  to  enter  the  very  workshop,  inspect  the  tools, 
observe  the  machinery  in  motion,  understand  its  processes,  and  see 
with  our  own  eyes  the  results  it  produces.  The  subject  is  so  multiform, 
our  tour  of  inspection  so  extensive,  and  the  variety  of  detail  so  bewilder, 
ing,  that  a  concise  treatment  of  this  theme  is  not  possible  except  in  a 
somewhat  superficial  and  panoramic  fashion.  We  must  therefore  beg 
the  reader's  indulgence  if  at  times  an  unsatisfactory  brevity  or  in- 
adequacy of  treatment  seems  to  mark  references  to  institutions  and 
movements  of  great  importance  and  noble  practical  usefulness. 

There  is  little  in  this  modest  survey  after  the  manner  of  those  "  drum 
and  trumpet  histories  "  referred  to  by  Mr.  Green  in  the  introduction  to 
his  "  History  of  the  English  People,"  yet  there 
are  voices  here-quiet  and  unobtrusive  it  may  be  J.::r„l;LV;tV„'.l::ml. 
—which  awaken  nobler  passions  than  those  which  tiont. 

are  associated  with  military  triumphs.  There  may 
appear  to  be  a  certain  element  of  confusion  in  the  clashing  and  com- 
mingling of  so  many  currents  of  social  influence,  yet  this  is  not  untrue 
to  the  real  facts  of  the  case.  Civilization  grows  complex  as  it  advances, 
and,  like  the  branches  of  a  tree,  ramifies  and  subdivides  itself  into 
many  intricacies.     If  we  picture  to  ourselves  the  living  and  varied 

lOJ 


II 


i 


iMHIHIaiiail 


104 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  aND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


•treams  of  Christian  influence  which  take  their  rise  in  mission  fountains 
and  push  their  way  into  bold  contact  and  seemingly  hopeless  conflict  with 
the  mighty  currents  of  heathen  thought  and  life,  we  recognize  the 
shifting,  fitful,  and  somewhat  confused  phases  of  social  r :  suits  which 
must  follow.  Apparently  the  in^x'^nificaiit  volume  of  those  forces  which 
represent  the  transforming  and  sweetening  power  of  nobler  ideals  is  ab- 
sorbed  and  lost  in  the  great  rush  and  impetus  of  the  dominant  trend, 
but  there  is  a  persistency  and  a  richness  of  spiritual  essence  in  the 
springs  of  influence  which  God  originates  which  will  in  the  end  purify 
and  possess  any  higher  life  into  which  they  may  flow.  There  is  at 
the  present  time  no  resultant  of  Christian  civilization  in  the  world 
which  has  not  been  thus  clarified  by  long  and  patient  struggle  on  the 
part  of  nobler  elements  introduced  for  that  very  purpose. 

Let  us  note  at  the  outset  that  we  are  not  dealing  in  this  connection 
primarily  with  the  spiritual  or  evangelistic  outcome  of  missions.  We 
aie  endeavoring  rather  to  ascertain  and  emphasize  their  more  indirect 
results  in  the  sphere  of  social  reformation  and  progress.  For  the  sake 
of  convenience,  as  in  oiu*  study  of  "  The  Social  Evils  of  the  Non-Chris- 
tian World,"  the  varied  aspects  of  the  subject  may  be  classified  into 
groups  or  clusters,  and  first  among  these  we  shall  notice  that  in  which 
personal  character  is  chiefly  affected. 


I.-RESULTS   MANIFEST   IN   THE   INDIVIDUAL 
CHARACTER 

In  the  ultimate  analysis  of  society— to  repeat  a  statement  which  has 
often  been  emphasized  in  these  pages— the  personal  character  is  the 
stronghold  of  social  virtue  as  well  as  of  social  vice.  Whatever  missions 
may  do  for  communities  and  races  must  be  done  first  in  the  individual 
members.  We  turn,  therefore,  with  interest  to  scrutinize  the  results  of 
mission  work  in  transforming  single  lives  into  nobler  and  finer  asso- 
ciate lives. 


fl 


I.  Temperance  REFORM.-«-That  intemperance  is  a  curse  to  society 
is  a  truism  in  morals.'  It  destroys  the  character,  the  economic  worth, 
and  the  practical  usefulness  of  its  victim,  and  turns  him  rather  into  a 
centre  of  demoralizing  influences.     He  becomes,  in  fact,  a  dangerous 

»  A  little  volume  by  the  Rev.  A.  E.  Garvie,  B.A.,  B.D.,  on  "The  Ethics  of 
Temperance,"  is  of  special  value  in  the  study  of  this  subject. 


;  THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


106 


element,  an  incubus,  and  in  the  end  an  outcast  from  society.t  It  can- 
not be  ignored  in  this  connection  that  the  introduction  of  intoxicants 
into  non-Christian  lands  (especially  Africa)  is  a  crime  for  which  the 
jjreed  and  depravity  of  unworthy  representatives  of  civilization  are 
largely  responsible.  It  must  be  a  relief  to  Christian  sensibilities  that 
missions  the  world  over  are  contending  earnestly  against  this  giant 
curse.!* 

Great  honor  is  here  due  to  the  world-wide  e  forts  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  has  sei»t  to  the  foreign  fields  a 
succession  of  accomplished  missionary  advocates 
of  temperance  to  quicken  devotion  to  princi-  a  worid-wWt  mov«. 
pies  and  promote  helpful  adjustment  of  forces.  ""um^^nel! "' 
Organized  societies  in  Christian  lands  having  in 
view  the  protection  of  native  races  from  the  ravages  of  strong  drink 
have  also  accomplished  a  valuable  service.  The  latter  agencies  are  at 
present  represented  by  a  United  Committee  for  the  Prevention  of  the 
Demoralization  of  the  Native  Races  by  the  Liquor  Traffic— a  Com- 
mittee composed  of  representatives  of  twenty-one  societies  of  a  mis- 
sionary, philanthropic,  or  temperance  character.  The  story  of  the 
great  polyglot  petition  of  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  is  well  known,*  and  it  was  the  testimony  of  the  late  Miss  Frances 
E.  Willard,  the  originator  of  the  idea,  that  the  organization  of  which  she 
was  the  President  had  been  greatly  aided  by  missionaries  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  whose  sympathy  and  practical  cooperation  had  been  of 
the  highest  value.  Her  own  words  of  testimony  are  notable :  "It 
is  needless  to  say  that  but  for  the  intelligent  and  consecutive  work  of 
foreign  missionaries,  the  Worid's  W.  C.  T.  U.,  now  a  living,  organic 
force,  would  be  merely  a  plan  on  paper."  *  The  Aborigines  Protection 
Society  of  England  is  giving  careful  attention  to  the  drink  traffic  in 
Africa,  as  appears  from  its  latest  reports.  Its  keen  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, and  full  recognition  of  the  enormous  dangers  of  the  situation, 
appear  in  its  memoria.s  to  the  British  Government,  its  public  meetings, 
special  literature,  and  practical  efforts  to  stay  the  surging  ravages  of  the 

*  Cf.  "The  Jivilisation  of  Our  Day,"  James  Samuelson,  editor,  for  an  essay 
on  "  The  Drink  Qnestion  and  Temperance  Efforts,"  pp.  722-228. 

*  Cf.  "The  Drink  Traffic  and  Foreign  Missions,"  by  the  Rev.  Frank  S.  Dob- 
bins, in  "  Temperance  in  all  Nations,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  319. 

»  Regions  BeyonJ,  June,  1895,  p.  260.  Cf.  article  on  "Woman's  Work  for 
Temperance,"  by  Mr  George  Kerry  (E.  B.  M.  S.;,  in  The  Indian  EvangelUat 
Review,  April,  1896,  p.  445. 

*  Tkt  Heathen  Woman's  friend,  November,  1894,  p.  129. 


■  i* 


II 


li  ■ 


106 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


\      I' 


ii 


M  i 


fi 


« I 


evil.  The  time  limit  of  the  general  act  of  the  Bnuielt  Conference, 
fixed  at  six  yean  from  Januaryr,  1893,  has  now  expired,  and  it  will  b« 
the  urgent  aim  of  this  and  other  organizationi  interested  in  the  subject 
to  secure  some  more  effective  action  dealing  with  the  liquor  problem 
in  Africa.' 

In  foreign  fields,  with  hardly  an  exception.  Christian  missions  have 
organized  bands  and  societies  for  the  advancement  of  temperance  work 
and  the  restoration  of  the  fallen,  and  are  endeavoring  through  every 
channel  of  influence  to  restrict  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicants 
and  to  prevent  their  use  by  native  converts.  The  cause  of  temper- 
ance has  its  place  on  the  programme  of  missionary  conferences.  It 
is  advocated  in  the  papers  and  periodicals  issued  for  circulation  among 
natives,  and  has  an  honored  prominence  in  mission  literature. 

An  examination  more  in  detail  of  the  status  in  different  mission  fields 
may  well  turn  our  attention  first  to  Africa.  A  noble  personality,  singularly 
wise  and  heroic,  arises  at  once  to  greet  I'j  out  cc 
Khama,  and  his  brave  the  deep  shadows  of  what  is  fast  becoming  a  rum 

cruaadt  against  (trong  ,  ■,       •       try.  .1. 

drink.  cursed    contment.      It    is    Khama,   the    nati\ 

South  -African  chief  and  Christian  convert,  who 
has  exercised  his  authority  in  prohibiting  the  drink  traffic  within  his 
domains.2  He  has  recently  (1895),  with  two  other  African  chiefs, 
paid  a  visit  to  England,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  secure  the  main> 
tenance  of  existing  political  relations  with  the  British  Government,  and 
also  to  request  its  good  offices  in  protecting  his  country  from  the 
threatened  invasion  of  liquor.  In  this  he  seems  happily  to  have  suc- 
ceeded, at  least  for  the  time  being,  having  received  the  express  com- 
mendation of  the  Queen  in  approval  of  his  sturdy  hostility  to  the 
entrance  of  intoxicants  among  his  people,  and  beinj  assured  of  the 
support  of  Her  Majesty's  Government  in  the  endeavor  to  maintain 
his  remarkable  position  on  this  question.'     A  despatch  to  the  British 

1  The  Aboriginet"  Friend:  Journal  of  the  Aborigines  Protection  Soeiely,  July, 
1896,  p.  36;  May,  1897,  p.  137. 

'  Cf.  references  to  Khama  on  pages  14  and  I J  of  this  volume. 

*  A  character  sketch,  entitled  "  Khama:  A  Romance  of  Missions,"  will  be  found 
in  The  Review  0/ ReiieuH  (English  edition)  for  October,  1895,  which  contains  much 
of  striking  interest  concerning  the  character  and  history  of  this  notable  African. 
Cf.  alsoTA/T  Chronicle  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  November,  1895,  p.  285. 
In  the  latter  periodical  we  find  an  account  of  a  reception  given  to  Khama  at  a  Cen- 
tenary Meeting  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  a  report  of  the  brief  address 
he  made  upon  the  occasion,  in  which  occur  the  following  pointed  sentences  :  "  I  have 
a  request  to  make  of  the  English  Christians  :  to  pray  that  we  may  be  helped  in  the 
great  and  dilTicult  task  in  which  we  are  engaged.  We  are  black,  and  when  we  come 
among  white  we  seem  to  go  astrty ;  therefore  I  rejoice  because  of  the  help.    I 


1^ 


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I'hiit.i  l.>    Uiiax'il  .t  S.iti>.   Uiliilii 


Ili({li  fast;   Imlian   <  liri-.ti  ins 
iC.  M.  S  > 


Khama  ami  his  attt-nilant  rhicfs  while  on  a  visit  u>  Knul.in.l  in  iS,s.     Rev.  \V.  ('.  WIllouBliby 
tl..  M.  S.i.  uf  Palaiiyi'.  South  Africa,  standinu  on  tin-  ri;,'ht ;  Khama  st'aleil  :     xl  t.>  him. 

NoiAKil    CiRoiP-*   ov    .Xkuuxn     \m>    Indian    C'hrimian*. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


107 


authorities,  previously  written  by  this  wise-hearted  chief,  is  a  unique 
State  paper,  and  indicates  the  high-water  mark  of  Christian  statecraft 
where  full  play  has  been  given  to  the  moral  power  of  missions.  These 
are  Khama's  words :  "  It  were  better  for  me  that  I  should  lose  my 
country  than  that  it  should  be  flooded  with  drink.  Lobengula  never 
gives  me  a  sleepless  night,  but  to  fight  against  drink  is  to  fight 
against  demons,  not  against  men.  I  dread  the  white  man's  drink  more 
than  all  the  assegais  of  the  Matabele,  which  kill  men's  bodies,  and  it  is 
quickly  over ;  but  drink  puts  devils  into  men  and  destroys  both  bodies 
and  souls  forever.  Its  wounds  never  heal.  I  pray  your  Honor  never 
to  ask  me  to  open  even  a  little  door  to  drink." »  It  would  be  well  for 
Christendom  apparently  if  some  of  our  foreign  mission  converts  could 
have  a  hand  in  the  legislation  against  the  drink  traffic  which  is  so  sadly 
needed  outside  of  Africa.  The  heroic  struggle  of  Khama  still  goes  on, 
but  as  European  demands  grow  exacting  he  finds  his  opposition  more 
difficult  to  maintain.  Will  those  who  profess  to  represent  civiliza- 
tion at  last  strike  down  the  hero  who  is  struggling  to  save  his  people 
from  the  power  of  a  desolating  scourge?  '•* 

rejoice  especially  because  the  Christian  Church  in  England  is  making  war  against 
strong  drink;  therefore  I  say  we  have  a  common  enemy  whose  name  is  Strong 
Drink.  Let  us  fight  him  together.  I  personally  have  been  engaged  for  years 
battling  with  this  enemy,  because  I  saw  how  it  would  destroy  my  people  and  my 
government.  ...  In  our  country  we  live  things  that  trouble  us  very  much,  and 
we  do  not  know  whether  we  shall  live  nicely  in  that  country ;  but  we  look  to  God, 
for  He  knows  all  the  circumstances.  He  knows  how  to  conquer  all  things.  May 
He  conquer  all  evil  things,  so  that  we  may  go  forward  in  all  good  things.  I  give 
thanks  to  Jesus  for  the  way  in  which  the  Christian  Churches  have  received  us,  and 
for  what  you  do  for  us." 

1  Letter  from  Khama  to  Sir  Sydney  Sheppard,  March  7.  1888,  quoted  in  The 
African  News,  December,  1893,  p.  12,  and  in  The  Keiinv  0/  Kniru-s  (English 
edition),  October,  1895,  p.  303. 

»  The  latest  aspect  of  this  strange  warfare  is  a  letter  from  Khama  addressed  to 
the  United  Committee  on  the  Liquor  Traffic,  received  by  them  early  in  1897,  which 
has  been  made  the  basis  of  an  inquiry  in  the  House  of  Commons  as  to  whether  any 
action  would  be  allowed  which  might  be  m  contravention  of  the  pledges  given  to 
Khama  by  Her  Majesty's  Government.  The  point  at  issue  was  whether  the  Govern- 
ment would  license  refreshment-rooms  on  the  railway  passing  through  Khama's 
territory,  thus  making  them  public  places  for  the  sale  of  intoxicants.  Khama's 
letter  is  as  follows  : 

"  To  THE  Assembly  of  Those  Who  Help  Nations  of  Strangers  in  Resisting 
Liquors  : 

"I  have  seen  your  letter  and  rejdced.  I  rejoiced  exceedingly  as  when  I 
saw  you  in  England,  you  who  are  big  men ;  I  am  thankful  because  you  stand  in 
the  word  which  you  spoke  to  us  in  England.     And  concerning  liquor,  I  am  still 


'  I 


II 


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108 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIOS'S  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


In  passing  we  may  contrast  the  principles  which  govern  Khama 
with  those  that  have  controlled  the  neighboring  Boer  Government  in 
the  Transvaal,  where  the  licensing  of  the  drink  traffic  and  the  freedom 
with  which  a  native  can  obtain  intoxicants  have  produced  a  shocking 
prevalence  of  drunkenness.  It  is  reported  that  twenty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  total  number  of  native  employees  in  'he  mining  industry  are 
rendered  unfit  for  work  every  day  by  liquor;  and  in  an  inde- 
pendent report,  dated  June  20,  1893,  from  the  Manager  of  the  Salis- 
bury Mine,  >  is  stated  that  "nearly  half  the  natives  were  drunk  or 
incapacitated  from  the  effects  of  the  big  drunk  on  Saturday."  For  the 
same  reason  a  high  percentage  of  fatal  accidents  is  recorded,  and  it  is 
isserted  that "  the  amount  spent  yearly  on  drink  by  natives  on  the  Rand 
cannot  be  estimated  at  less  than  a  million  and  a  half  pounds,  and  it 
more  probably  amounts  to  two  mill-ons." '  We  leave  it  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  reader  as  to  whether  the  policy  of  Khama  would  not  only 
be  the  more  Christian  but  also  the  more  civilized  attitude  on  the  part 
of  the  Government. 

In  other  sections  of  South  Africa  a  strenuous  warfare  is  waged  under 
missionary  leadership  to  check  this  terrible  evil.     The  Committee  on 

Temperance  of  the  Synod  of  the  Free  Church 

vigoroua  policy  of  the   Mission  in  South  Africa  presented,  in  1896,  a  tell- 

native  churche..       j^g  report  based  upon  detailed  inquiry,  showing 

the  almost  unanimous  attitude  of  opposition  on 
the  part  of  native  congregations  to  the  traffic  in  intoxicants,  and  the 
prevalence  of  total  abstinence  to  a  remarkable  extent  among  all  church- 
trying,  but  I  do  not  think  I  can  succeed.  Here  in  our  country  there  are  Europeans 
who  like  liquor  exceedingly,  and  they  are  not  people  who  like  to  save  a  nation,  but 
to  seek  that  a  nation  may  be  destroyed  by  liquor ;  and  they  are  not  people  who  like 
to  be  persuaded  in  the  matter  of  liquor ;  but  you  who  are  people  of  importance  in 
England,  I  know  that  you  like  to  save  people  so  that  they  may  live  in  the  land.  And 
I  cause  you  to  know  that  we  have  seen  the  path  of  the  train  in  our  land.  And 
concerning  the  path  of  the  train,  I  rejoice  exceedingly.  But  I  say  concerning  the 
path  of  the  train  there  is  something  in  it  which  I  do  not  like  among  you ;  it  is  the 
little  houses  which  will  be  in  the  path  to  sell  liquor  in  them.  I  do  not  like  them, 
for  my  people  will  buy  liquor  in  them.  And  I  say  help  me  in  this  matter,  for  it  is 
a  Ihing  which  will  kill  the  nation.  And  I  cause  you  to  know,  because  you  are 
people  who  do  not  like  nations  to  be  destroyed  in  the  land.  Now  I  end  [my  words]. 
I  say  be  greeted,  my  honoured  friends.  To  see  your  ink  is  like  seeing  you  in 
England.  ••  Vour  friend, 

Th€  Missionary  Record,  March,  1897,  p.  97. 

»  Cf.  article  on  "  The  Drink  Question  in  the  Transvaal,"  in  Tht  Saturday  Rt- 
view,  March  30,  1897,  p.  285, 


THE  SOC/AL  RESULTS  OF  Af/SSIOA'S 


109 


members.'  In  some  churches  'his  requirement  is  made  a  condition  of 
membership.  In  an  account  of  temperance  efforts  among  the  Zulus  it 
is  stated  that  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  mission  of  the 
American  Board  total  abstinence  is  a  fundamental  rule  of  admission 
to  church.membership.2  work  on  behalf  of  temperance  is  success- 
fully conducted  in  the  Natal  Mission  of  the  American  Board.^*  and  in 
the  Kaffraria  Mission  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland.* 
Concerning  the  policy  of  the  missions  around  Lake  Nyassa  similar 
statements  regarding  the  temperance  movement  might  be  given.  "  At 
all  the  stations,"  writes  the  Rev.  Donald  Fraser,  of  the  Livingstonia 
Mission  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  "  the  Christians  have  of  their 
own  accord  met  aiid  pronounced  against  the  drinking  of  beer.  They 
see  that  drunkenness  has  been  followed  by  murder,  uncleanness,  and 
foolish  talking,  and  that  the  whole  country  is  being  devastated,  in 
order  to  raise  the  beer  crop,  so  they  have  agreed  together  and  said, 
•  We  will  neither  make  beer  nor  drink  it.' "  As  foreign  intoxicants 
have  not  yet  penetrated  to  the  interior  sections  of  the  Continent, 
where  access  is  difficult,  the  question  of  temperance  has  not  assumed 
the  importance  in  the  Church  Missionary  Society's  work  in  Uganda 
which  we  may  expect  it  will  later  when  the  completion  of  the  rail- 
way shall  make  that  region  accessible  to  trad    s.*     It  is  interesting 

»  The  Christian  Exprfss\Lo\eda.\e),  October  I,  1896,  p.  147. 

a  Life  and  Light  Jor  Woman,  June,  1894,  p.  265. 

'  "  A  temperance  society  in  our  mission  has  done  great  good.  It  is  called '  The 
Blue  Ribbon  Movement.'  It  began  about  fifteen  years  ago.  A  great  many  have 
become  abstainers  who  are  not  members  of  any  church,  bur  it  is  expected  that  members 
of  our  mission  churches  should  take  this  pledge.  It  reads  like  this :  '  I  promise 
to  give  up  all  native  beer,  and  also  to  abstain  from  all  other  intoxicating  drinks.  I 
ask  God  to  help  me  to  keep  this  pledge.'  "—Miss  Gertrude  Hance  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.), 
Esidumbini,  Natal,  South  Africa. 

*  "  A  new  feature  of  our  work  is  to  be  found  in  the  Band  of  Hope.  This  tem- 
perance movement  originated  among  the  women.  On  February  25th  the  leading 
women  of  the  church  from  various  out-stations,  to  the  number  of  about  forty,  met 
here  [Mbonda]  for  tho  purpose  of  forming  the  Band.  This  branch  of  our  work  is 
directly  under  the  superintendence  of  Mrs.  Soga.  At  the  initial  meeting  thirty-one 
names  were  affixed  to  the  roll.  Branches  have  since  been  started  at  most  of  the 
out-stations,  and  much  good  has  resulted  in  the  way  of  strengthening  and  purifying 
the  characters  and  lives  of  many  of  the  church-members  and  others.  At  present 
there  are  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  names  on  the  roll."—"  Report  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  Foreign  Mission  Board,  1897,"  p.  38. 

*  The  views  of  Bishop  Tucker  are  worthy  of  note  just  here  as  revealing  the 
personal  attitude  of  this  leader  of  missions  in  East  Central  Africa  towards  the  ques- 
tion of  temperance.  He  says  :  "  I  have  been  a  teetotaller  for  twenty  years.  So  far 
from  regretting  it,  I  would  commence  it  sooner  if  I  had  the  chance  again.     I  find 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAI  PROGRESS 


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to  note,  however,  that  already  temperance  societies  are  being  formed 
among  the  Christian  natives,  with  a  view  to  the  restriction  among 
them  of  the  use  of  indigenous  intoxicants.'  Mr.  R.  H.  Leakey,  of 
Koki,  in  Uganda,  reports  tliat  "  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  adults 
are  more  or  less  addicted  to  drinking,  but  happily  nearly  all  the  Chris- 
tians are  total  abstainers."  - 

The  whole  West  Coast  of  the  Continent,  in  practical  defiance  of  the 

Brussels  Act  of  1890-91,  has  been  cursed  by  the  desolations  of  the  rum 

traffic.  This  Act  professed  to  regulate  the  supply 

The  .oei>i  aspects  of    of  spirituous  li(iuors  to  natives  in  different  parts  of 

the  rum  tratnc  in 

Africa.  Africa,  but  It  has  proved  to  be  so  inoperative  that 

its  efficiency  has  been  of  little  value,  especially  along 
the  coast-line  and  in  sections  of  the  Congo  Valley.  The  interior  re- 
gions, either  on  account  of  difficulty  of  access  or  government  prohibi- 
tion (as  in  the  Niger  territories  and  part  of  the  Congo  State),^  are  little 
touched  by  the  scourge.  We  note  this  paragraph  in  a  recent  number 
of  T/ie  Christian:  "  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  given  the  matter  of  the 
liquor  traffic  on  the  coast  of  Africa  great  consideration,  and  finds  that 
eighty  per  cent,  of  the  total  revenue  of  the  \iger  Coast  Protectorate, 
and  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  revenue  of  the  Gold  Coast  and  Lagos,  are 
derived  from  the  liquor  trade."  <  There  is  reason  to  hope  that  the 
British  Foreign  Office  will  make  the  effort  to  secure  an  international 
agreement  with  a  view  to  the  limitation  of  the  traffic.  Sir  George  T. 
Goldie,  K.C.M.G.,  President  of  the  Royal  Niger  Company,  has  re- 
cently said  that  he  has  "  long  been  convinced  that  the  whole  African 
movement  will  end  in  failure,  unless  European  spirits  are  practically 
excluded."     He  characterizes  the  rum  traffic  as  "by  far  the  most  im- 


that  in  Africa  not  only  is  a  teetotaller  better  fitted  to  cope  with  the  climate,  but  he 
is  better  fitted  for  the  great  physical  exercise  which  he  has  to  undergo.  I  have 
marched  some  ten  thousand  miles  in  Africa,  and  have  never  felt  the  want  of  any- 
thint;  like  a  stimulant.  Indeed,  I  feel  sure  that  if  I  had  not  been  a  teetotaller  it 
would  have  been  iniimssible  to  undergo  the  fatigue  involved  in  some  of  the  march- 
ing. "  The  Bishop  is  said  to  have  walked  about  a  thousand  miles  in  a  recent  pastoral 
visit. 

1   T/if  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  July,  1 893,  p.  506. 

•  "  Report  of  Church  Missionary  .Society,  1897,"  p.  136. 

^  "  The  Statesman's  Year-Hook,  1897,"  p.  195. 

«  7//C  Chnstiaii,  June  17,  1S97.  This  statement  concerning  the  Niger  Coast 
Protectorate  should  not  be  understood  as  referring  to  the  Royal  Niger  Company's 
Territories,  where  the  importation  of  liquor  is  prohibited  above  the  seventh  degree 
of  north  latitude— thanks,  we  believe,  largely  tc  the  pi:rsonal  influence  of  Sir  George 
T.  Goldie.     "  Report  of  Church  Missionary  Society,  1897,"  p.  64. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


111 


portant  African  topic  of  the  day." '  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this 
connection  that  throughout  all  the  missions  of  the  West  Coast  of  Africa 
there  is  a  vigilant  and  vigorous  temperance  movement  to  arrest  the 
ravages  of  this  dread  enemy  of  the  African.  In  the  Congo  Valley,  the 
missions  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  have  instituted 
severe  prohibitive  measures  upon  the  subject  of  intemperance,  requir- 
ing total  abstinence  of  all  church-members.  "  We  fought  for  temper- 
ance," says  the  Rev.  Henry  Richards,  in  a  recent  report  of  his  station, 
Banza  Manteka,  "  and  now  we  have  a  strictly  temperance  church."  2 
If  we  pass  to  Egypt  and  the  northern  coast  of  the  Continent,  we  find 
missions  to  be  the  same  saving  power,  and  almost  the  only  thorough- 
going and  consistent  influence  in  favor  of  abstinence.'  It  may  be  said, 
in  fact,  that  Christian  missions  in  Africa  are  fighting  the  battle  of  tem- 
perance with  zeal,  and  that  they  represent  a  most  important  phase  of 
organized  effort  in  that  direction. 

In  the  neighboring  Island  of  Madagascar  we  discover  the  Mala- 
gasy Christian  Woman's  Temperance  Society,  with  its  fine  record  of 
courageous  and  devoted  service  on  behalf  of  so- 
briety.    The  French  commander  had  hardly  es-    cour«»eoui  friend,  of 

,  ./ ,  ,  ...  ;     ,         t«mp«r«nce  in  M«d«- 

tabhshed  himself  as  the  military  master  of  the  gaicar. 

island  when,  to  his  surprise,  he  was  visited  by  a 
deputation  of  native  Christian  women,  not  in  a  spirit  of  fear  with  a 
timid  plea  for  mercy  and  forbearance,  but  as  representing  the  Mada- 
gascar Branch  of  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
to  thank  him  for  his  stringent  regulations  concerning  the  sale  of  intoxi- 
cants.*     "As  regards  temperance,"  writes  the  Rev.  James  Sibree 

1  Thi  Missionary  Rtcord,  August,  1895,  p.  228.  Cf.  article  by  Major  F.  W.  Lugard, 
on  "  The  Liquor  Traffic  in  Africa,"  in  The  Nineteenth  Century,  November,  1897. 

*  The  Baptist  Missionary  Magaiine,  July,  1894,  p.  353. 

'  "Another  evil  of  widespread  power  among  the  native  Christian  sects,  when 
ocr  mission  began,  was  intemperance.  Ahhough  it  was  a  rare  thing  to  see  a 
drunken  man  on  the  streets,  yet  drunkenness  and  debauchery  were  prevalent 
among  the  Copts.  I  am  very  happy  to  say  that  there  has  been  a  wonderful  im- 
provement in  this  regard,  and  I  am  not  afraid  to  assert  that  this  amendment  is 
entirely  due  to  the  influence  of  mission  work  in  the  schools  and  churches,  and 
to  the  dissemination  of  Christian  literature,  and  also  in  no  small  degree  to  the 
personal  efforts  of  missionaries  with  the  people  in  their  homes.  I  am  sorry, 
however,  to  have  to  say  that  the  habit  of  drinking  has  rather  increased  than  other- 
wise among  the  Mohammedan  inhabitants,  because  while  they  naturally  avoid  con- 
tact with  the  missionaries,  they  are  brought  into  close  relationship  with  the  foreign 
drinking  populations  in  connection  with  business  and  government  work." — Rev. 
Andrew  Watson,  D.D.  (U.  P.  C.  N.  A.),  Cairo,  Egypt. 

*  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  June,  1896,  p.  430. 


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112 


CIlRfSTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


(L.  M.  S.),  of  Antananarivo,  "a  large  number  of  people  have  now 
taken  the  pledge,  and  there  is  a  body  of  women  workers  who  are 
earnest  and  zealous  in  holding  meetings  for  the  cause."  Where  is 
there,  by  the  way,  a  temperance  society  which  for  its  size  can  present 
a  more  inspiring  and  creditable  report  than  one  just  received  from  the 
busy  headquarters  of  the  Malagasy  Christian  Woman's  Temperance 
Society? ' 

In  the  South  Sea  Islands  "  the  fight  against  intemperance  has  been 
resolutely  waged  by  our  missionaries."  ^    This  legend  might  stand  for 

all  mission  work  in  the  South  Seas,  from  the  time 

A  reioiut*  fight  in  th«   of  John  Williams,  when  European  traders  began 

loutb  Saaa.  (heir  nefarious  introduction  of  intoxicants.    There 

is  no  darker  stain  on  the  history  of  commerce 
than  the  persistent  efforts  of  traders  to  purchase  the  native  prod- 
ucts with  ardent  spirits.  In  this  they  were  only  too  successful,  and 
the  disease  of  drunkenness  swept  over  the  islands.  Nearly  everywhere 
the  work  was  thrown  back,  and  "  but  for  these  little  handfuls  of  true 
and  faithful  Christians  the  whole  race  might  have  gone  back  into  sav- 
agery."' From  that  time  (1836)  onward  to  the  present,  temperance 
strict  and  uncompromising  has  been  the  watchword  of  missions  in  the 
Pacific  Islands.  In  Apia,  Samoa,  which  is  popularly  known  among  the 
sailors  of  the  South  Seas  as  the  "  Hell  of  the  Pacific,"  the  London 
Missionary  Society  has  opened  a  coffee-house  and  free  reading-room 
especially  for  foreign  sailors,  and  reports  that  there  are  flourishing 
Gospel  Temperance  and  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  in  connection 
with  the  Apia  church.*  We  read  that  in  the  Gilbert  Islands,  where 
the  American  Board  is  at  work,  one  of  the  group,  Butaritari,  has  a 
Christian  king,  and  that  in  his  realm  "  strict  temperance  laws  are  en- 

>  Here  is  a  brief  summary  of  its  annual  report:  "  (i)  Some  of  the  members 
have  diligently  visited  people  in  their  homes  and  conversed  with  them  about  the 
evils  of  drinking,  and  every  two  months  the  work  accomplished  is  reported  to  the 
committee.  In  this  way  311  persons  have  been  induced  to  sign  the  pledge.  (2)  Some 
members  visited  the  owners  of  houses  where  rum  was  sold,  and  with  the  exception 
of  two,  who  said,  'I  will  think  about  it,'  all  so  visited  promised  to  discontinue 
the  sale  of  drink  in  their  houses.  (3)  In  the  month  of  May  the  Society  held 
services  in  the  churches  in  town,  and  obtained  87  pledges.  (4)  Some  members 
undertook  to  hold  meetings  in  the  country  places.  This  work  was  very  heartily 
taken  up,  and  everywhere  the  workers  were  well  received.  The  pledges  taken  at 
these  meetings  were  1690.  (5)  Others  offered  to  go  to  distant  places,  and  the 
results  have  been  very  remarkable.  During  the  year,  '2,oj5  pledges  were  taken." 
—  The  Missionary  Rtcord,  March,  1896,  p.  92. 

*  Home,  "  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  229. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  51.  *  Tht  Chronicle,  May,  1897,  p.  I  la. 


...I 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


i^.,i-RAr<Y. 


forced  among  the  natives,  but  the  white  foreigners  keep  an  open  saloon 
in  defiance  of  law."  No  wonder  that  the  writer  of  the  above  sen- 
tence asks,  "  Who  are  the  pagans?  "  The  king  appealed  to  the  Eng- 
lish, who  have  assumed  a  protectorate  over  the  islands,  to  help  him  in 
extcuting  his  law  against  the  foreign  transgressors."  In  the  Caroline 
Islands  a  notable  temperance  status  among  the  natives  had  been  estab- 
lished before  the  Spanish  occupation  in  1887.  Of  Pingelap  it  was 
said  that  liquor  was  "  banished  from  the  island."  The  Rev.  E.  T. 
Doane  wrote  concerning  Ponape  before  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards, 
that  the  making  of  intoxicating  drinks  and  the  traffic  in  the  same  had 
ceased.- 

In  the  New  Zealand  House  of  Representatives  a  young  Maori 
chief,  who  represents  his  race,  has  been  pushing  for  legislation  that 
will  protect  his  fellow-countrymen.      He  pleads 


•  -  Protection  of  nativt 

for  the  following  striking  clause  to  be  added  to  „ce«  in  Hew  zoUnd, 
the  Licensing  Act  of  the  cc'.ony:  "That  no  "•* °"j;j;;^' "" 
intoxicating  liquor  be  sold  or  given  to  any  man  of 
the  native  race,  and  that  no  license  be  renewed  or  fresh  license  be 
granted  within  a  mile  of  Maori-land."  ^  A  petition,  in  regard  to  which 
it  is  stated  that  it  was  signed  by  thirty  of  the  chiefs  and  over  sixty 
other  representative  natives,  was  recently  addressed  to  the  Maori 
Parliament,  which  in  response  forwarded  an  official  appeal  to  the  New 
Zealand  Government,  urging  the  addition  of  the  foregoing  clause.*  At 
the  Centenary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  (1895)  the  Rev. 
James  Chalmers,  one  of  its  missionaries  in  New  Guinea,  made  an 
earnest  plea  for  the  entire  suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic  among  native 
races,  and  reported  from  his  own  field  that  Sir  William  Macgregor, 
the  excellent  Governor  of  New  Guinea,  was  strictly  enforcing  his 
prohibitive  law  against  the  selling  or  giving  of  strong  drink  to  the 
natives. 

On  our  way  to  Japan  we  touch  at  the  Island  of  Formosa  for  a 
word  of  information  from  Dr.  MacKay,  of  the  Canadian  Presbyterian 
Mission.  "  On  the  east  coast  of  Formosa,"  he  says,  "  I  have  planted 
a  dozen  churches  amongst  drunken  aborigines.  The  change  in  the 
villages  since  has  been  amazing.  The  heathen  Chinese  around  have 
a  common  saying  that  '  the  aborigines  are  now  men  and  women.' " 

1  The  Missionary  Herald,  June,  1893,  p.  232. 

2  See  article  by  the  Rev.  E.  E.  Strong,  D.D.,   on   "  Spain  and  the   Caroline 
Islands,"  in  The  American  Monthly  Hevirw  of  Reviews,  June,  1898,  pp.  70^709- 

>  Abkari,  October,  1895,  p.  108. 
«  The  Stntintl,  July,  1897,  p.  86, 


It 


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114 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


V    i 


£ 


The  Rev.  \S.  Gauld,  also  of  the  Canadian  Presbyterian  Mission,  re< 
ports  that  there  is  great  improvement  in  the  native  Christian  com- 
munity with  rtfei'tfue  to  temperance.  Among  the  non-Christian 
populatiun  of  the  island,  both  Chinese  and  aborigines,  except  where 
mission  iiflucnce  has  gained  the  upper  hand,  there  is  unhappily  an 
increasii.  -•  tt-ndcncy  to  drunkenneu,  especially  in  the  ports  where  for- 
eign liquij.  s  are  offered  for  sale. 

In  Japan  there  is  a  vigorous  temperance  movement,  which  is  not  by 
any  means  confined  to  Christian  circles.  Ihe  history  of  Christianity 
in  the  empire,  however,  shows  that  it  has  taken 
Notable  temperance  A  ptonounced  and  leading  part  in  advocacy  of 
movement  In  Japan,  (his  reform,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  have 
long  resided  there,  it  is  the  source  and  promoter 
of  temperance  ideas  among  all  classes.  The  Rev.  Albert  Arnold 
Bennett  (.A.  B.  M.  U.),  of  Yokohama,  wrote,  in  1895,  that  there  were 
four  prin  ipal  Christian  temperance  societies  in  Japan,  the  Yokohama, 
Tokyo,  Hokkaido,  and  Tcikoku,  with  an  average  membership  of  about 
2500  each,  and  also  about  eighty  others,  in  which  the  membership 
averaged  75  each,  making  a  total  of  about  16,000  members.  In  The 
Japan  Evangelist  io\  September,  1897,  we  find  mention  of  six  Christian 
temperance  organizations.  As  this  data  is  some  two  years  later  than 
the  report  given  by  Mr.  Bennett,  progress  is  evident.  Steps  have  just 
been  taken  to  form  a  union  of  temperance  societies  by  the  appointment 
of  a  Central  Committee,  with  Dr.  Soper,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Mission,  as  President.*  A  further  organization  into  a  National  Alliance, 
including  all  the  temperance  so  ,ietiesof  the  empire,  is  about  to  be  con- 
summated. There  is  also  a  Buddhist  temperance  society,  which  is  said 
to  number  about  30,000  members,  half  of  whom  bind  themselves  to 
total  abstinence,  and  the  remainder  take  the  same  pledge  either  for  a 
limited  time,  or  with  special  reference  to  certain  Buddhist  ceremonies 
during  which  drink  habits  are  prevalent.  These  larger  societies  issue 
periodicals  of  their  own."  The  zealous  apostle  of  temperance  in  the 
Hokkaido,  or  "  Northland  "  of  Japan,  is  Mr.  Kazutaka  Ito,  the  first 

1  See  article  on  "  More  Advanced  Steps  in  the  Line  of  Temperance  Reform," 
in  The  Japan  Evangelist,  September,  1897,  pp.  358-361.  Cf.  also  article  by  the 
Rev.  Julius  Soper  in  The  /ndefenJent,  December  16,  1897,  p.  17. 

^  "  Much  has  been  said  and  written  by  the  Christians  in  Japan  against  the  use 
of  liquor,  and  there  are  some  of  the  churches  that  make  total  abstinence  a  requisite 
fur  adiiiissiun.  There  are  thousands  of  temperance  people  now  in  the  coontry,  and 
the  weight  of  Christian  teaching  and  example  is  doing  much  to  check  the  great  evil. 
On  one  of  the  islands  of  Japan  the  sale  and  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  are  entirely 
forbidden.     See  The  Japan  Evangelist  for  December,  1894,  p.  64,  article  by  Dr. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


116 


convert  to  Chriititnity  in  Sapporo.»  The  pioneer  temperance  society  in 
that  northern  island  wa«  organised  by  Christian  converts,  and  Mr,  Ito 
was  elected  iu  president.  Among  the  Ainu,  who  are  specially  given 
to  drink,'  it  has  now  a  branch,  and  the  movement  has  spread  through- 
out  the  Hokkaido,  being  represented  by  many  auxiliaries. 

Christian  laborers  in  the  employ  of  the  Japanese  railways  are 
organizing  Industrial  Temperance  Societies.     Interesting  accounts  are 
given  in  some  of  the  Japanese  periodicals  of 
earnest  and  sustained  efforts  on  the  part  of  many  J3;7.=pf;,;V;'„"um.' 
prominent  native  Christians  to  establish  and  fos-       p«ruie«  reform, 
ter  temperance  organizations.     Besides  the  work 
of  Mr.  Ito,  previously  referred  to,  zealous  service  is  rendered  by  Mn. 
Yajima,  Vice-President  of  the  Central  Committee,  who  was  active 
in  the  formation  of  the  first  Kyo/ukwai,  or  temperance  union,  in  Japan, 
and  was  its  first  president,'  by  Mr.  Miyama,  who  is  called  "  the  John 
B.  Gough  of  Japan,"*  and  by  Mr.  Taro  Ando,  of  Tokyo,  who  has  re- 
cently esUblished  a  monthly  temperance  journal,  and  is  himself  active  in 
this  special  reform.     We  read  also  of  the  organisation  by  Mi.ss  Eliza- 
beth Russell,  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  of  a  Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  the  board- 
ing-school for  girls  at  Nagasaki.     This  Union  numbers  at  the  present 
time  one  hundred  and  eighty  members,  and  there  are  still  others  at 
Kobe,  and  in  the  Bancho  Giris*  School  at  Tokyo.*    Here  is  a  significant 
incident  reported  by  the  Rev.  Albert  Arnold  Bennett,  writing  from 
Yokohama.     In  speaking  of  a  number  of  rtcent  baptisms,  he  says : 
"  One  of  the  five  baptized  last  Sunday  had  been  away  four  years 
studying  the  manufacture  of  wines  and  other  liquors,  and  expected 
to  do  quite  a  business  in  that  line.     We  feared  his  faith  would  not 
hold  out  when  he  was  told  he  must  give  up  such  trade  if  he  became 
a  Christian,  but  he  did  stop,  and  is  now  seeking  a  business  that  will 
not  work  ruin."  • 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  in  this  connection  an  historical  fact  reported 

Soper,  entitled  '  J»panese  Religion*  Workers.'  "—Rev.  Henry  Loomis  (A.  B.  S.), 
Yokohama,  Japan. 

"  At  to  sobriety— drinking  largely  prevail*  in  Japan,  but  Christianity  enforces 
temperance  in  the  churches,  by  the  organization  of  temi^erance  societies,  and  the 
requirement  of  temperance  on  the  part  of  teachers  and  scholars  in  schools."— Rev. 
R.  L.  Halsey  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  Shimonoseki,  Japan. 

1  The  Japan  Evangelist,  December,  1894,  pp.  64-69. 

»  Batcnelor,  "  The  Ainu  of  Japan,"  pp.  30,  31. 

>  Th*  Japan  Evangelist,  February,  1896,  pp.  170-172. 

«  Ibid.,  June,  1897,  F-  sSi-  *  ^*"''-.  J""^'  '^7.  PP-  282,  283. 

•  The  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,  January,  1892,  p.  24. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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by  the  Rev.  D.  S.  Spencer,  of  Nagoya :  "  At  the  time  of  concluding 
commercial  treaties  with  the  Tokugawa  Government,  the  American 
representative,  Mr.  Townsend  Harris,  earnestly  advised  the  Japanese 
Government  to  restrict  the  importation  of  opium  to  fifteen  pounds  per 
boat,  and  to  put  thirty  per  cent,  duty  on  imported  liquor.  Japan  has 
profited  by  following  this  advice,  since  the  result  has  been  largely  to 
keep  out  opium  and  greatly  to  reduce  the  quantity  of  imported  liquors. 
Still  the  amount  received  through  Yokohama  in  1893  was  3500  koku 
(one  koku  equals  forty  gallons),  5500  koku  in  1894,  and  14,000  koku  in 
1895."  This  statement  indicates  a  rapid  increase  in  the  importation 
of  liquors. 

In  China  the  opium  evil  overshadows  the  temptation  to  strong 
drink.     The  Chinese  as  a  nation  may  be  regarded  as  temperate,  al- 
though not  generally  total  abstainers.      In  the 

"S.^c?optm  or°  *'"^'y  P^'^.*'  ^°«^^^''  ^"d  where  foreign  intoxi- 
of  atrong  drink.  cants  are  introduced,  their  use  is  largely  on  the 
increase.  In  many  sections  of  China  drunkenness 
is  classed  by  the  missionaries  with  opium-smoking,  and  warfare  is 
waged  upon  both  together.  "  We  have  temperance  societies  here," 
reports  the  Rev.  Charles  Hartwell  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Foochow, 
"  some  of  them  with  three  pledges,  against  opium,  tobacco,  and  alco- 
holic drinks."  The  best-known  temperance  pledge  now  in  use  in 
China  is  against  both  wine  and  opium.i  There  is  a  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  in  China,  of  which  Mrs.  J.  M.  Farnham, 
an  American  Presbyterian  missionary  of  Shanghai,  is  President,  and  in 
many  of  the  churches  temperance  societies  have  been  formed,2  while 
in  a  number  of  the  schools  temperance  text-books  are  in  use.' 

In  the  great  realm  of  India  all  mission  efforts  on  behalf  of  this 
reform  are  much  facilitated  and  aided  by  the  work  of  the  Anglo- 

»  The  following  is  the  form  of  the  pledge:  "  I .  .  .  voluntarily  promise  as  long 
as  I  live  not  to  use  wine  as  a  beverage,  not  to  use  opium,  and  to  exhort  hers  not 
to  use  them ;  further,  that  I  will  not  traffic  in  them.  Trusting  in  the  Lord  for  help, 
I  will  forever  keep  the  pledge,  and  hereby  voluntarily  sign  my  name  and  testi- 
mony. ..." 

»  "  Our  people  have  formed  a  temperance  society,  and  not  a  few  have  signed 
the  pledge  never  to  taste  any  kind  of  intoxicating  drink,  and  to  discourage  its  use 
at  feasts  and  at  all  times."— Rev.  Hunter  Corbett,  D.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Chefoo, 
China. 

'  "  In  many  boarding-schools  '  temperance  textbooks '  are  now  used,  with 
special  effort  to  show  the  ill  effects  of  the  use  of  strong  drink,  opium,  and  other 
vices,  on  the  organs  of  the  body."-Rey.  J.  C.  Garritt  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Hang- 
chow,  China. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


117 


■cntimcnt  in  India. 


Indian  Temperance  Association,  a  society  formed  in  1889  for  the  pro- 
motion of  temperance  in  India.  It  has  wrought  well,  with  the  hearty 
cooperation  of  many  distinguished  natives  of 
India,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Mr.  Bepin  a  (rowing  tampcranc* 
Chandra  Pal,  Mr.  P.  L.  Nagpurkar,  and  others, 
including  the  late  Mahant  Kesho  Ram  Roy,i  who 
served  the  cause  of  temperance  in  India  with  great  eloquence  and  devo- 
tion. According  to  a  recent  report  (1897)  of  this  Association,  it  has  260 
Indian  temperance  societies  affiliated  with  it,  and  over  200,000  pledged 
abstainers.  In  1894  it  reported  the  formation  of  53  new  societies,  in 
1896  of  22,  and  in  1897  of  nearly  30.  Its  indefatigable  Secretary, 
Mr.  W.  S.  Caine,  M.P.,  visited  India  in  the  winter  of  1896-97,  and 
awakened  new  interest  in  the  cause.  There  are  also  about  90  lodges 
of  the  Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars,  others  of  the  Order  of  the 
Rechabites,  and  a  flourishing  Army  Temperance  Association,  indepen- 
dently organized,  with  a  present  average  membership  of  23,7 1 1,  which  is 
thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the  entire  British  Army  in  India.^  The  Rev. 
Thomas  Evans,  of  Mussoorie,  formerly  a  Baptist  missionary,  has  done 
yeoman's  service  in  this  cause  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  India, 
chiefly  in  connection  with  the  Angio-Indian  Temperance  Association. 
The  Excise  Department  of  the  British  Government  in  India  in- 
volves many  complex  and  difficult  problems.  Its  regulations  are  de- 
fended by  some,'  but  sharply  denounced  by  almost  all  temperance 
reformers.    It  is  not  possible  to  discuss  here  the  questions  involved.    It 

1  "  Some  five  years  ago,  a  remarkable  movement  took  place  in  Benares.  In 
connexion  with  our  association  we  had  a  temperance  meeting  in  the  town  hall,  at 
which,  besides  my  colleague  and  myself,  the  Rev.  Thomai  Evans,  a  Bapti:>t  mis- 
sionary, and  Mr.  W.  S.  Caine.  M.P.,  were  the  speakers.  Among  the  audience  was 
a  Brahman,  Mahant  Kesho  Ram  Roy  by  name,  who  had  been  taught  in  a  mission 
school.  He  was  so  impressed  by  what  he  heard  that,  of  his  own  accord,  he  set 
about  trying  to  reform  some  of  the  castes  most  addicted  to  drinking.  He  got  the 
head  men  of  these  several  castes  together,  and  persuaded  them  to  make  rules  against 
intemperance  among  their  fellow-castemen.  All  this  he  carried  on  for  weeks 
without  our  help  or  knowledge.  Since  then,  with  our  sympathy  and  advice  and 
occasional  help,  he  has  carried  on  the  work— writing  books  and  tracts  on  temper- 
ance, and  lecturing  in  neighboring  towns.  As  the  outcome  of  his  eflforts,  there  are 
now  bet^  een  forty  and  fifty  thousand  members  of  temperance  societies  in  the 
Benares  Division,  and  the  sale  of  spirits  has  fallen  off  to  a  very  considerable  ex- 
tent."— Rev.  D.  Hatton  (L.  M.  S.),  Mirzapur,  North  India. 

»  Abkari,  July,  1897,  p.  74. 

»  Dr.  R.  N.  Cnst,  who  was  formerly  a  British  official  in  India,  and  has  had 
much  to  do  with  excise  regulations,  declares  them  to  be  conceived  in  practical  wisdom, 
and  with  a  view  to  the  welfare  of  the  country.  While  thus  defending  the  govern- 
ment system,  he  does  not  deny  the  immense  evils  of  intemperance  in  India,  and  fixes 


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118 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


is  sufficient  to  note  that  the  excise  revenue  of  India  has  more  than 
doubled  in  twenty  years.     In  1874-75  it  was  ^2,633,000 ;  in  1894-95 

it  was  ;^5, 528,000.*     When  we  take  into  consid- 

ExcCm  problems  of  thi  eration  the  fact  that  total  abstinence  is  the  general 

Indian  Oovcrnmtot.    jyig  ^jth  the  great  mass  of  the  Indian  population, 

and  that  the  consumption  of  liquor  is  confined  to 
about  fifty  millions,  an  added  significance  is  given  to  this  lamentable 
increase  of  the  drink  traffic.  The  various  systems  of  Indian  excise  are 
fully  explained  in  a  little  pamphlet  entided  "  A  Brief  Sketch  of  Our  In- 
dian Excise  Administration,"  which  is  published  at  the  Mafasilite  Press, 
Mussoorie,  India.  Whether  what  is  known  as  "  farming  "—that  is, 
selling  the  exclusive  right  of  the  liquor  traffic  to  some  contractor  in  a 
designated  area— or  what  is  called  "the  central  distillery  system" 
—that  is,  the  establishment  of  great  government  distilleries  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  all  private  manufacture— or  what  is  named  as  "the  out-still 
system  "—that  is,  the  renting  of  the  distilling  right  to  those  who  will 
pay  for  it— is  adopted,  the  result  seems  to  be  one  and  the  same— a 
constant  increment  to  the  business.  Of  these  different  methods  "  the 
central  distillery  system  "  appears  to  be  the  least  objectionable.  Still 
another  expedient  in  vogue,  chiefly  in  the  Bombay  Presidency,  is  known 
as  "  the  minimum  guarantee  system."  The  contractor  who,  under  this 
arrangement,  obtains  his  privileges  through  public  competition,  engages 
to  manufacture  a  certain  amount  annually,  and  if  he  is  not  able  to 
dispose  of  it,  to  pay  the  Government  the  duty  on  the  full  amount. 
The  curious  result  in  this  case  is  that  while  the  contractor  engages  to 
supply  a  so-called  "  minimum  "  number  of  gallons,  yet  invariably  the 
man  whose  bid  promises  the  highest  number  as  his  pledged  output  is 
the  one  who  obtains  the  contract.^ 

Temperance  reform  in  India,  therefore,  whatever  may  be  true  of 
its  inception,  is  not  at  present  exclusively  a  phase  of  Christian  missions, 
as  many  non-Christian  natives  of  distinction,  and  multitudes  of  others 


the  blame  upoc  merchants  who  trade  in  foreign  intoxicants  by  importing  vast  quan- 
tities into  the  country.  "  Notes  on  Missionary  Subjects,"  Part  II.,  essay  on 
"  The  Liquor  Traffic  in  British  India,"  pp.  121-164.  Per  contra,  see  a  trenchant 
letter  from  the  Rev.  Thomas  Evans,  on  "  The  Indian  Government  and  the  Drink 
Question,"  Abkari,  October,  1895,  p.  104. 

1  "  Report  of  the  Anglo-Indian  Temperance  Association  for  1896-97."  See 
Abkari,  July,  1897,  p.  75. 

*  Cf.  "  A  Brief  Sketch  of  Our  Indian  Excise  Administration,"  by  A  Loyal 
Briton  and  a  Friend  to  the  People  of  India,  published  at  the  Mafasilite  Press, 
Mussoorie,  N.  W.  P.,  India.  See  also  an  article  on  "  Excise  in  Bengal,"  by  Bepin 
Chandra  Pal,  of  Calcutta,  in  Abkari,  July,  1897,  p.  84. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


110 


less  distinguished  among  the  people,  are  its  friends  and  supporters. 
It  may  be  truly  said,  however,  that  mission  agents  at  the  beginning, 
and  even  now,  are  in  the  forefront  of  Indian 
temperance  effort.     At  the  last  Decennial  Con-    chrutian  miuions  in 

'  the  forafront  of  Indian 

ference  in  Bombay,  a  public  temperance  meetmg  ttmp«ranc«  effort, 
was  held,  in  which  the  subject  was  discussed  with 
enthusiasm  and  vigor.  The  Rev.  Arthur  Parker  (L.  M.  S.)  asserted 
that  in  some  instances  entire  Indian  castes  had  pledged  themselves  to 
total  abstinence  as  a  formal  rule,  and  further  reported :  "  We  reckon 
now  sixty  thousand  persons  in  the  lower  castes  of  Benares  pledged  to 
either  partial  or  total  abstinence." '  This  social  movement  is  not  by 
any  means  confined  to  the  lower  orders,  as  the  Anglo-Indian  Associa- 
tion in  a  late  report  mentions  thirty-eight  Kayastha  temperance  societies 
and  clubs  in  affiliation  with  itself.  The  various  somajes  have  had 
an  active  and  influential  part  in  Indian  temperance  agitation,  and 
lend  their  powerful  aid  to  the  Anglo-Indian  Temperance  Association. 
The  great  Indian  reformers,  with  hardly  an  exception,  have  been  ad- 
vocates of  this  movement.  It  is  stated,  upon  the  authority  of  a  prom- 
inent member,  that  "  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  there  is  not  a  single  person 
who  is  guilty  of  intemperance."  -  The  Rev.  R.  A.  Hume  (A.  B.  C. 
F.  M.)  was  the  founder  of  the  Bombay  Temperance  Union,  which  in 
connection  with  various  other  organizations  has  become  part  of  what 
is  known  as  the  Bombay  Temperance  Council,  inaugurated  in  Decem- 
ber, 1896.' 

"  Mission  work,"  writes  the  Rev.  James  M.  Macphail  (F.  C.  S.),  of 
Chakai,  Bengal,  "  has  had  a  remarkable  effect  in  creating  a  conscience 
on  this  matter,  even  among  those  of  the  Santals  who  have  not  yet 
embraced  Christianity.  As  a  rule,  when  they  become  Christians  they 
give  up  voluntarily  and  entirely  the  use  of  intoxicants."  A  Canadian 
Baptist  missionary,  the  Rev.  John  Craig,  of  Akidu,  states :  "  In  this 
mission  we  are  all  total  abstainers,  and  expect  our  converts  to  follow 
our  example.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  very  many  of  them  do 
so.  Many  missionaries  are  helping  in  the  prohibition  movement. 
I  am  trying  to  stir  up  the  Sudras  and  others  to  petition  for  the  clos- 
ing of  liquor-shops  in  the  various  villages.  Nearly  every  one  admits 
that  they  bring  only  loss."  "  At  Ongole,"  writes  Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Kelly 
(A.  B.  M.  U.),  "we  have  a  Christian  Temperance  League,  to  which  both 
men  and  women  are  admitted  as  members.     In  our  Christian  com- 

>  "  Report  of  the  Bombay  Conference,  1892-93,"  p.  756. 
2  Abkari,  October,  1894,  pp.  151,  152. 
*  Ibid.,  January,  1897,  p.  7. 


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120 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


munity  her«  total  abstinence  is  insisted  upon."  The  Arcot  Mission 
of  the  Refonned  Church  of  America  is  stated  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Chamberlain,  its  veteran  missionary,  to  be  "  in  itself  a  total  abstinence 
society.  No  missionary  joins  it,  no  native  assistant  enters  its  employ, 
without  thereby  taking  the  pledge.  No  members  are  received  to  the 
Church  without  pledging  total  abstinence."  In  connection  with  the 
summary  of  results  at  the  recent  jubilee  celebration  of  the  Gossner 
Mission  among  the  Kols,  it  was  reported  that  although  drunkenness 
had  not  entirely  disappeared,  yet  among  the  Christians  eighty-five 
per  cent,  avoided  all  use  of  spirits.*  In  many  of  the  higher  educa- 
tional institutions  temperance  societies  are  formed,  as,  for  example,  in 
St.  John's  College  (C.  M.  S.),  Agra,  where  it  is  said  that  "  more  than 
two  hundred  of  the  students  are  members  of  the  Students'  Temper- 
ance Association."  2 

In  Assam  the  missionaries  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 

Union  have  waged  a  most  successful  campaign  against  intoxicants.     In 

all  their  churches,  and  in  many  of  the  villages 

Chrutiani  aimoat  to  •  where  Christians  reside,  total  abstinence  is  the 

man  total  abitainera  in,.,  fii  ..  ,.   ..  -i 

Aaiam  and  Burma,  fulc-'  I"  sonie  of  the  large  tea-cstates  special 
temperance  work  has  been  established.*  "  Chris- 
tianity is  the  only  way  of  salvation  for  this  country  in  respect  to  intoxi- 
cants, since  the  heathen  are  becoming  more  and  more  addicted  to  their 
use."  Thus  writes  the  Rev.  Robert  Evans,  of  Mawphlang,  and  he 
adds :  "  But  there  are  some  thousands  of  Christians  in  our  churches 
who  refrain  from  liquor  altogether,  and  their  children  are  brought  up 

1   Tht  Mission  World,  February,  1 896,  p.  79. 

a  "  Report  of  Church  Missionary  Society,  1897,"  p.  205. 

*  The  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,  September,  1892,  p.  404;  Bailey,  "A 
Glimpse  at  the  Indian  Mission  Field,"  p.  69. 

*  "  I  began  work  in  a  tea-estate  a  few  years  ago.  The  manager,  an  English- 
man, was  not  at  ill  favorably  inclined  towards  mission  work.  Hut  hear  his  testi- 
mony. He  said :  '  Before,  the  people  were  awful  drunkards,  and  Sunday,  when 
work  stopped  on  the  tea-garden,  was  a  day  of  drunkenness  and  rioting;  but  since  a 
good  number  have  become  Christians  on  the  estate,  all  is  qu'et  on  Sundays,  and 
the  Christians  are  sober  and  total  abstainers.'  In  one  large  Kol  village,  called 
Bebejia,  all  the  inhabitants,  Christians  and  heathen,  have  become  total  abstainers 
from  intoxicants,  and  fine  heavily  all  transgressors.  This  is  perhaps  the  only 
abstaining  village  in  India.  The  majority  of  its  inhabitants  have  become  Christians. 
All  our  converts  promise  to  be  total  abstainers  before  we  baptize  them.  They 
are  a  well-to-do,  prosperous  people,  whereas  before  becoming  Christians  they  spent 
a  great  deal  of  money  for  liquors  and  opium."— Rev.  C.  E.  Petrick  (A.  B.  M.  U.), 
Sibsagor,  Assam. 


THE  SOCIAL  XESULTS  OF  MISS/O.XS 


121 


without  knowing  the  taste  of  it."  The  same  is  true  of  Burma, 
where  missionaries  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  also 
labor.  "The  thirty  thousand  communicants,"  writes  the  Rev.  W.  I. 
Price,  of  Henzada,  "  are  almost  that  number  of  total  abstainers  from 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  No  sin  or  misdemeanor  is  more 
promptly  dealt  with  by  the  Karen  churches  than  the  use  of  intoxicants 
as  a  beverage."  Another  misiiionary  of  the  same  society,  the  Rev. 
W.  F.  Thomas,  of  Insein,  in  speaking  of  the  attitude  of  the  churches 
to  temperance,  affirms  that  "  total  abstinence  from  all  that  intoxicates 
forms  a  plank  in  the  membership  of  every  church  connected  with  our 
Mission,  among  the  Burmese  as  well  as  among  the  hill  tribes,  who 
were  universally  addicted  in  their  heathen  days  to  the  use  of  drink.  So 
resolute  are  the  churches  in  enforcing  their  restrictive  principles  that 
there  is  not  the  call  for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  this  country  that  there  is 
elsewhere."  Total  abstinence  is  declared  by  the  Rev.  D.  A.  W.  Smith, 
D.D.,  a  colleague  of  Mr.  Thomas  at  Insein,  to  be  "  the  first  benefit  of 
a  public  character  which  the  Gospel  has  brought  to  the  Karens."  In 
the  neighboring  kingdom  of  Siam,  up  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the  Laos 
country,  a  missionary  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Board,  the  Rev. 
W.  C.  Dodd,  reports  that  the  "  Lao  church  is  a  body  of  teetotalers. 
Wherever  Christianity  has  been  accepted  and  practised  by  the  people  it 
has  reformed  the  victims  of  strong  drink.  I  think,  too,  that  a  pub- 
lic sentiment  against  intemperance  is  being  aroused  in  the  regions 
contiguous  to  our  mission  stations."  "  The  Church  in  Siam,"  writes 
Miss  Mary  L.  Cort,  formerly  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  "  is  itself 
a  great  temperance  society." 

If  we  turn  now  to  Western  Asia,  we  find  that  missions  in  the  Turkish 
Empire  have  created  a  strong  sentiment  in  favor  of  abstinence,  and 
have  put  under  a  decided  social  ban  in  many  com- 

.^.        ^,        ,,..,,    ,  ,  A  strong  temperance 

mumties  the  habit,  all  but  universal  years  ago,  ,entiment  in  mi..ion 
of  offering  wine  and  arrack  to  callers.  The  cus- 
tom has  disappeared  almost  entirely  from  Protes- 
tant families,  and  also  from  many  not  included  in  the  Protestant  com- 
munity.i  "  It  is  an  interesting  fact,"  writes  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Barton,  D.D., 
for  many  years  a  missionary  in  Asiatic  Turkey,  "  that  when  the  Gospel 
was  received  by  the  people  they  read  therein  the  necessity  of  temper- 
ance ;  the  churches  began  to  advocate  it,  although  it  was  opposed  to 
the  customs  of  the  country,  and  in  many  places  the  total  abstinence 
pledge  was  demanded  from  those  who  wished  to  become  members  of 
»  Dr.  George  C.  Raynolds  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Van,  Turkey. 


churches  throughout 
Turkey  and  Periia. 


II 


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3 


laa  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

the  Church." »    In  Penia,  «  elsewhere,  the  obligation  of  temperance 
ha.  come  with  the  prevalence  of  Christian  teaching^  ^^^^t^^^ 
nected  with  the  revival  of  .893  in  Urumuh. related  by  the  RevJF^G. 
Coan  clearly  illustrates  this  fact.    The  Gospel  had  wrought  power- 
Sly  in  a  Persian  village  not  far  from  Urumiah.  and  a.  the  grape 
crop  that  year  had  been  unusually  prolific,  the  native  house,  were  full 
72.,  which,  as  the  people  knew,  would  find  a  ready  sale  elsewhere^ 
So  strangely  powerful  was  the  temperance  sentiment  created  in  the 
village  by  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  they  with  one  m>nd  deter- 
mined  upon  the  destruction  of  their  wine  crop  rather  than  tha  tt,  sale 
should  foster  intemperance     It  was  surely  a  marvelous  .pectacle  for 
Persia  when  immediately  after  a  church  service  the  entire  community 
poured  its  wine  into  the  gutter  as  a  tribute  to  the  newly  awakened 
conviction  concerning  the  Christian  obligation  to  promote  ternperance 

From  Western  Asia,  if  we  journey  across  the  seas,  to  the  Enghsh 
and  Scotch  Missions  in  the  West  Indies,  we  find  substantially  the 
same  record  as  to  the  influence  of  missions  in  promotmg  tenipe'ance 
The  Rev.  James  Cochrane  (U.  P.  C.  S.  M.),  of  Jamaica,  repor  s  tha 
"  temperance  associations  of  one  kind  or  another  are  common  all  over 

lould  have  been  still  n.oreimpressive."-Rev.  J.  K.  Greene.  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.). 

""ThTlSnjL'terLing  ite.  is  given  by  one  of  the  .edical  «.i»i-i-n^e 
AJriLL  Board  in  Aintab:  "The  work  among  the  intemperate  here  m  AmUb 
U  uniq^.  Four  years  ago  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  native  pastors,  tramed  m  the 
mi^sTi^y  school.'and  afterwards  a  teacher  in  the  Girls'  Seminary.  -"' '»  L°nd- 
To  'recourse  i^  midwifery.  On  returning,  her  attention  was  called  |o  'he  great 
L  «se  in  intemperance,  and  after  holding  a  series  of  •n"""^,  "^^"'"^  ^J  '  j' 
ZZ,  she  decid'ed  to  open  a  temperance  crusade      ^^^^^^^^^^^^  Tt 

ir^eir  J^  o^ttend  the  meetings,  but  her  c,uiet  persistency  has  overcome 
al    resistance       Singing  has  been  an  important  factor  in  attracting  new-comers, 

1  iVcr: ^re  Jve'n  fr^uently.  both  by  ^^ -"""^T "S^d^  stt^bSr^ 
The  work  is  steadily  growing,  and  we  hope  for  much.     This  credit  surely  belongi 
rcrristia:  missioL^^as  Miss  Krikerian   owes  all  her  tr«nmg  to  o„  ..ss.on- 
aries."-Dr.  Caroline  F.  Hamilton  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.).  A.ntab,  Turkey. 
»  WomatCs  Work  for  Woman,  October.  1893,  p.  27^. 


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Slu.li-nt-.  in  Te.nh.r-."  Trainiii«  (HllrKC,  Fairfield,  Jamaica. 

Stuilinl-.  in  1  raiiiiiiu  <  "HfU"-,  St.  TlDiras,  West  ln.lie>. 

I'upil-.  in  (lirls'  Silii>.il,  Ulm  Held-.,  NitaraHUU. 

Di^iiri...;    OF   v'hrivii.vn    1-aiih    .\m>     rFMi-KKMi;    I.imn-;    in   THt   West   Inm«»- 

(M.  M.  S.I 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SS/OXS 


123 


the  Uland.  and  their  membership  in  creditably  and  Pfy^^^^^y^^'. 
m  R^   J.  Morton.  D.D..  of  the  Canadian  Presbyterun  Church 
Minion  in  Trinidad.  »ay» :  "  We  have  temperance       ^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^  ^^ 
iocietiei,  but  they  are  almost  a  part  of  the  cnurcn    ^,„i„„,  ,„  ,ht  w..t 
work  and  life."    A  total  abstinence  association  is  mdi... 

mentioned  as  one  of  the  features  of  the  English 
B  at  st^M^^^^^^^^^    Jamaica  .    From  the  little  Island  of  Ruaun.  m  the 
Caribb-an  Sea.  thirty  miles  of!  the  coast  of  Honduras,  where  the 
ErgSsh  Wesley'an  Methodists  are  established.       -o-V  ^l^ 
he  has  started  two  Gospel  Temperance  Societies,  and  that     they  are 
going  wUh  a  real  swing,  a  large  num.er  of  candidates    or  ...  on 
being  constantly  before  them.     In  fact,  drunkenness  has  -  ^1«J"«^ 
.L  the  chief  official  is  reported  to  have  said.  'We  used  to  sell  two 
island  boltles  of  liquor'a  month  in  the  Bay  Islands;  now  we  sell 

°"'\rCemrlrAm^rica.  under  the  auspices  of  the  Rev.  E.  M.  Hay- 
maker  a  Presbyterian  missionary  at  Guatemala  City,  "  a  temperance 
and   general  improvement   society   for   laboring     ^         ,^,„^^..„ 
classes  has  been  organized."     tntertaimng  ana    c„„„A„„ic.«nd 
profitable  methods  of  interesting  the  people  have  m.xUo. 

been  devised,  with  a  view  to  protecting  them  upon 
hoidaysandfeast-days  from  the  inevitabletemptationtointempern.^ 

.He  ^t  -P;^- -iety^-  ^^  7^^!"?  ^  m:^- 

^;s^;ii::;o;^^bir^isopubHsi.daseri.o^^^^^^^ 

Temoerance  in  the  leading  daily  paper  of  the  City  of  Mexico.     There 
ha*:;  since  been  numerous  societies  formed  ^y^^^  ^-^^^^^^^^^ 
a  few  by  others  connected  with  mission  work.     The  R^;-  ""^^ 
W  Brown   (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.).  of   Mexico  City,  writes   of  the  high 
Lentlge  of  alcohol  in  some  of  the  distilled  liquors  used  ,n  Mex^ 
fco  and  their  great  intoxicating  properties,  especially  what  is  known 
:a;L^Z.,uUa,  and  ...caL     He  states  that  a  ^-i^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
m  temperance  sentiment  is  apparent,  even  since  he  .^°^  up  h.s  r    « 
dence  in  Mexico  thirteen  years  ago.     The  recent  visit  of  Mrs.  Helen 
H   Stoddard,  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U..  resulted  in  the  estabhshment  o 
Ly  branches  of  the  White  Ribbon  Army,  and  her  lectures  m  all  the 
principal  cities  of  the  central  table-land  have  given  a  stimulus  to  the 

1  "  Handbook  of  Jamaica,  1894,"  p.  353-  ..     .  ,        .,, 

1  -iVork  and  Worktr,  in  the  Mission  Fuld,  April,  1896,  p.  i65- 
«  Tht  Church  at  h,m*  and  Abroad,  March,  1895,  p.  222. 


If  i»,i 


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124 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


cause.'  Mr.  Brown  adds :  "  Many  men,  women,  and  children  have 
signed  the  total  abstinence  pledge.  Mrs.  Stoddard  was  well  received, 
not  alone  by  the  missionary  societies,  but  also  in  the  government 
schools,  in  which  she  was  allowed  to  speak,  and  the  Mexican  press 
commented  favorably  upon  the  movement." 

In  South  America,  where  intemperance  is  so  prevalent,  missionary 
efforts  have  been  put  forth  to  remedy  the  evil.     At  the  South  Ameri- 

Soei.tie."to.Bit.t.  ""  ^"""*'  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
and  educate "  concern-  copal  Church,  held  in  March,  1895,  the  Rev. 
ing temperance  in  South  Thomas  B.  Wood,  D.D.,  of  the  Peru  district, 

America.  ' 

Stated  m  his  report  that  a  "  special  society  to  agi- 
tate and  educate  for  temperance  reform  was  founded  in  1894.  It 
has  gathered  a  choice  circle  of  young  people.  Our  native  church  is 
squarely  in  the  front  rank  of  this  reform.  No  members  are  admitted 
to  full  communion  who  are  not  intelligent  and  avowed  adherents  of 
teetotalism."  •  It  is  reported  also,  by  a  missionary  of  the  same  Church 
in  the  province  of  Buenos  Ayres,  that  the  "  temperance  ause  is  doing 
uncommonly  well."  A  fine  organization  is  spoken  of  as  associated 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  city  of  Buenos  Ayres.'  In 
Chile,  in  connection  with  the  same  denomination,  "  an  important  tem- 
perance movement  has  been  established,  in  which  the  President  of  the 
Republic  takes  an  interest  and  contributes  to  its  support."  *  A  similar 
crusade  is  also  conducted  by  the  American  Presbyterian  missionaries 
of  both  the  Northern  and  Southern  Boards  in  their  various  South 
American  missions. 

Do  we  need  any  further  evidence  that  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  non-Christian  world  evangelical  missionaries  are  the 
friends  and  advocates  of  temperance,  and  that  the  Christian  Church, 
wherever  established,  if  true  to  its  principles,  is  bound  to  give  timely 
and  effective  help  in  this  strenuous  battle  with  the  baneful  scourge  of  in- 
temperance? It  is  possible  that  some  may  be  inclined  to  question 
the  wisdom  of  making  a  total  abstinence  pledge  a  condition  of  church- 
membership;  but  the  effects  of  intoxicants  among  many  of  these 
native  races  are  so  swift  and  deadly  that  there  is  no  hope  of  safety, 
unless  on  the  basis  of  moral  principle,  enforced  by  conscience,  they 
can  be  induced  to  let  strong  drink  forever  alone. 

>  Cf.  "  Report  of  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  1897," 
p.  375- 

*  The  Gospel  in  all  Lands,  August,  1895,  p.  404. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  427.  «  Hid.,  January,  1894,  p.  27. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


126 


2.  Deliverance  from  the  Opium  Habit.— Our  attention  is  now 
turned  almost  exclusively  to  China  and  India,  and  we  find  that  Chris- 
tianity, as  represented  in  missions,  is  instinctively  at  war  with  this  blight- 
ing evil,  and  is  everywhere  extending  a  helping  hand  to  its  victims. 
There  is,  so  far  as  the  writer  has  discovered,  entire  unanimity  of  sentiment 
among  missionaries  as  to  the  perils,  sorrows,  and  swift  ruin  which  attend 
the  habitual  use  of  the  drug.  In  China  the  consensus  of  opinion  is 
absolute,  and  the  entire  missionary  body  is  in  an  attitude  of  unquali. 
fied  abhorrence  and  alarm  in  view  of  the  prevalence  of  the  vice,  and 
of  hearty  antagonism  to  its  extension. 

The  testimony  which  missionaries  have  given  as  to  the  calamitous 
evils  which  attend  the  indulgence  has  been  of  service  to  the  anti- 
opium  cause,  and  the  influence  .hey  have  had  in 
moulding  public  sentiment  by  stating  unitedly  and  „'^J'„t^7J;:r,;-;;:. 
individually  the  true  facts  of  the  case  is  a  valuable  probiemof  the  Far  But. 
accession  to  the  resources  of  the  anti-opium  cru- 
sade. Their  memorials,  addresses,  contributions  to  the  press,  and 
published  reports  of  facts  gathered  from  careful  study  on  the  ground, 
have  yielded  a  fund  of  timely  information  to  Christendom.  This  is  no 
slight  ser\ice,  in  view  of  the  official  position  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment on  the  subject.!  At  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  for  the 
Suppression  of  the  Opium  Trade,  held  in  London,  May  27,  1897,  Mr. 
Benjamin  Broomhall  presented  some  startling  figures  with  refer- 
ence to  the  Victorian  record  of  the  opium  traffic.  During  the 
Queen's  reign  the  exportation  of  opium  from  India  has  amounted  to 
over  263,000  tons,  and  the  revenue  derived  therefrom  equals  ;^253,- 

1  Abundant  data  concerning  opium  may  be  found  in  the  Report  of  the  Royal 
Commission,  issued  in  1895,  in  a  series  of  seven  Blue  Books.  Cf.  also  the  biblio- 
graphical references  in  Vol.  I.,  p.  350,  and  the  section  on  the  opium  evil,  pp. 
80-84.  The  publications  of  the  British  societies  for  the  suppression  of  the  opium 
trade,  especially  The  Friend  of  China,  The  Sentinel,  Abkari,  and  National  Kight- 
eousness,  are  of  value.  Articles  bearing  upon  the  subject  will  also  be  found  in  The 
North  American  Hevieu',  September,  1896,  p.  381 ;  The  Missionary  Rei'iew  of  the 
World,  April,  1896,  p.  265;  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  February,  1894, 
p.  85;  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  August,  1894,  p.  350;  ibid.,  Octo- 
ber, 1894,  p.  435;  The  Chinese  Recorder,  January,  1896,  p.  21;  The  Saturday 
Review  (London),  September  12,  1896,  p.  288;  Ahkan,  October,  1895,  p.  89;  ibid., 
October,  1896,  p.  112;  and  a  valuable  series  of  papers  published  at  different  times  in 
The  Frtend  of  China,  by  the  Rev.  K.  Storrs  Turner,  complete  data  concerning  which 
will  be  found  in  the  number  for  July,  1897,  p.  93.  The  government  view  of  the 
matter  is  found  in  the  Report  of  the  Royal  Commission,  referred  to  above,  and  ha$ 
been  presented  also  by  Dr.  R.  N.  Cust  in  "  Notes  on  Missionary  Subjects,"  Part 
II.,  pp.  93-"9- 


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126 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


975>382— an  appalling  statement,  surely.'  At  the  same  meeting,  the 
Rev.  J.  Macgowan,  of  Amoy,  who  has  been  for  thirty-eight  years 
a  missionary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  China,  gave  a 
graphic  account  of  a  visit  which  he  once  made  to  an  opium  palace 
in  Shanghai.  He  described  most  of  those  who  resort  thither  as  young 
men,  and  the  estimate  of  the  number  present  at  the  time  of  his  visit  was 
about  one  thousand.^ 

In  connection  with  the  recent  Royal  Commission,  the  testimony  of 
missionaries  and  their  formal  memorials  on  the  subject  were  of  per- 
manent value,  especially  the  notable  one  signed  by 
The  settled  conviction  British  Protestant  missionaries  in  China  of  twenty- 
ofthemiMionary  body,  five  years'  Standing.^     Indian  missionaries,  with 
but  few  exceptions,  have  united  in  the  declaration : 
"  We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  the  participation  by  the  Government 
in  the  demoralising  traffic  in  opium,  and  we  record  our  conviction  that 
it  is  a  sin  against  God  and  a  wrong  to  humanity."     The  Anti-Opium 
Committee  of  Urgency  in  Great  Britain  is  responsible  for  the  follow- 
ing statement :  "  Every  missionary  society  and  every  native  Christian 
church  in  China,   Protestant  and  Roman   Catholic,  European  and 
American,  excludes  from  the  membership  of  the  Christian  Church  all 
opium-smokers  and  -eaters,  and  all  persons  who  grow,  manufacture,  or 
sell  opium."      Many  quotations  from  individual  missionaries  whose 
opinions  are  of  exceptional  value,  in  view  of  their  character  and  stand- 
ing, and  because  of  the  lifelong  observation  which  their  testimony 


1  "  Mr.  Benjamin  Broomhall,  in  seconding  the  resolution,  was  sure  all  present 
would  rejoice  in  the  many  schemes  which  had  been  propounded  in  honour  of  the 
good  and  long  reign  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,  and  he  wished  it  were  possible, 
amongst  other  great  deeds  this  year,  to  abolish  the  trade  in  opium.  According  to  a 
calculation  made  for  him  by  Mr.  Maurice  Gregory,  during  the  sixty  years  of  that 
reign  the  quantity  of  opium  exported  from  India  to  demoralise,  corrupt,  and  destroy 
our  fellow-men  in  China  and  the  Straits  Settlements  amounted  to  263,404  tons,  or 
half  a  ton  for  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night  of  the  whole  of  that  period.  They 
could  not  wonder  that  the  missionaries  on  the  spot  who  knew  the  result  of  the  opium 
traffic  should  be  loud  in  their  expressions  of  indignation  against  any  Government 
which  encouraged  that  which  spreads  desolation,  moral  and  social,  amongst  the  mil- 
lions of  China.  The  revenue  derived  from  the  traffic  by  the  Government  of  India 
durmg  the  past  sixty  years  was  ;t253,97S,382,  or  more  than  one  third— four  tenths, 
to  be  more  precise— of  the  amount  of  the  present  National  Debt." — The  Friend  of 
China,  July,  1897,  pp.  81,  82.     Cf.  also  ibid.,  October,  1897,  p.  98. 

8   The  Fi-iend  0/  China,  July,  1897,  p.  83. 

*  Printed  in  full  m  The  Chronicle,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  July, 
1894,  p.  153;  The  Frtend  of  China,  August,  1894,  p.  19;  and  The  Missionary 
Herald,  August,  1894,  p.  323. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


127 


represents,  might  be  given.  Such  men  as  the  late  Dr.  William  Lockhart, 
Dr.  Colin  S.  Valentine,  Dr.  Jame^  L.  Maxwell,  Dr.  A.  Lyall,  the  Rev. 
Griffith  John,  D.D.,  Archdeacons  Arthur  E.  Moule  and  John  R. 
Wolfe,  the  Rev.  Arnold  Foster,  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Lees,  the  Rev. 
WiUiam  Muirhead,  D.D.,  Dr.  Duncan  Main,  Dr.  S.  R.  Hodge,  Dr. 
Robert  Swallow,  Dr.  J.  A.  Otte,  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin,  and  others,  might 
be  called  not  unwillingly  to  the  witness-stand.' 

The  attitude  of  Christian  society  in  China  is  uncompromising— 
in  fact,  every  native  church  in  the  empire  may  be  called  an  anti-opium 
guild.     Formal  utterances  on  the  part  of  mission 
conferences   and   ecclesiastical   synods   indicate    ^,''^;„Sro7K'ttn 
clearly  the  inflexible  stand  which  has  been  taken.*       society  in  China. 
"  The  Church  in  China,"  writes  the  Rev.  Joseph  S. 
Adams  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  of  Hankow,  "wages  war  against  opium.     No 
person  is  ever  admitted  to  the  communion  who  buys,  sells,  uses,  or 

I  Dr.  Duncan  Main's  views  may  be  quoted  as  representing  the  judgment 
of  a  physiciar  :  "My  opinion  about  the  evil  effects  of  opium-smoking  is  unaltered. 
No  one  in  his  sober  senses  can  say  anything  in  its  favour,  unless  he  talks  nonsense. 
We  never  come  across  an  opium-smoker  or  a  non-opium-smoker  who  has  anything 
to  say  in  defense  of  the  habit,  and  if  it  were  such  an  innocent  affair  as  some  advocates 
of  it  try  to  make  us  believe,  surely  we  who  live  among  the  people  from  year  to  year 
would  find  it  out.  I  think  far  too  little  is  made  of  this  most  important  fact.  .  .  . 
To  me  it  seems  an  utter  impossibility  for  any  one  who  lives  among  the  Chinese, 
speaks  their  language,  knows  their  lives,  and  mixes  with  them  from  day  to  day,  to 
do  anything  else  but  condemn  the  base,  cruel,  and  demoralising  habit.  It  affects 
the  Chinaman's  person,  principles,  and  purse,  damages  his  constitution,  degrades  his 
conduct,  and  depletes  his  cash,  and  in  many  cases  leads  to  ruin  wd  destruction  of 
body  and  soul.  God  grant  that  every  help  may  be  given  to  those  who  are  fighting 
against  the  evil  and  trying  to  cure  and  save  the  victims  of  the  habit!"—"  Annual 
Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1893-94,"  pp.  203,  204. 

A  full  statement  of  the  verdict  of  Dr.  J.  A.  Otte  will  be  found  in  the  "  Annual 
Report  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America  for 

1894,"  pp.  16,  17. 

The  views  of  Archdeacon  Moule,  of  Shanghai,  and  of  the  Rev.  Arnold  Foster, 
of  Hankow,  were  expressed  at  a  "  Meeting  of  Protest"  held  January  12,  1898,  in 
London.  Their  forcible  addresses  will  be  found  in  Tht  Sentinel,  Februarv,  1898, 
pp.  19-21,  and  in  National  Righteousness,  March,  1898.     Mr.  Foster's  -able 

speech  is  published  as  a  separate  pamphlet  by  the  Women's  Anti-Opiun  ency 

Committee,  312  Camden  Road,  London. 

»  The  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Amoy  at  its  session  in  Shanghai  in  1893  adopted 
elaborate  resolutions,  the  tenor  of  which  was  strongly  anti-opium.  They  are  re- 
corded in  the  "  Annual  Report  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  for 
1894,"  p.  67.  The  Synod  of  Amoy  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America  also  dealt 
with  the  subject  in  the  same  spirit,  at  its  meeting  in  March,  1897.  See  report  in 
The  Christian  Intelligencer,  May  19,  1897. 


II 


I 


pi< 


128 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


allows  to  be  used  in  his  house,  or  cultivates  in  his  fields,  any  opium. 
The  Church  has  established  native  anti- opium  societies,  having  a 
pledge,  a  mutual  watch  cure,  a  supply  of  medicines  for  eradicating  the 
craving,  and  a  plan  for  extending  a  helping  hand  to  others.  Books  and 
leaflets  exhorting  smokers  and  warning  non-users  are  extensively  circu- 
lated. Many  thousands  of  opium  fiends  are  yearly  discharged  from 
mission  hospitals  as  cured,  but  those  who  remain  permanently  free  from 
the  craving  number  under  ten  per  cent.  There  is  a  strong  public 
opinion  against  the  drug,  which  is  supported  and  strengthened  by  mis- 
sionary example  and  teaching."  "  The  vice  of  opium-smoking,"  writes 
Dr.  S.  P.  Barchet,  of  the  same  society,  "  a  trap  into  which  all  classes 
of  Chinese  have  fallen,  is  the  curse  of  China.  Anti-opium  societies 
have  been  formed  in  several  native  churches,  but  practically  all  our 
churches  are  pronounced  in  their  opposition,  for  no  one  who  smokes 
opium  would  be  admitted  as  a  member." 

The  protest  of  the  Church  is  supplemented  by  the  establishment, 

under  missionary  auspices,  in  many  parts  of  the  empire,  of  associations 

for  the  suppression  of  the  vice.     The  Anti-Opium 

Philanthropic  cfTottt  to  League  in  China  is  an  organization  which  was 

save  vietimiof  the  °  ° 

habit.  instituted  "  to  devise  and  pursue  whatever  meth- 

ods the  grace  of  God  might  enable  us  to  use 
toward  the  delivery  of  China  from  opium."  The  first  President  is  the 
Rev.  H.  C.  Du  Bose,  D.D.,  and  its  Secretary  the  Rev.  J.  N.  Hayes,  of 
Shanghai.!  "  Anti-opium  societies,"  writes  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Garritt,  of 
Hangchow,  "  are  multiplying  rapidly."  A  flourishing  one  is  established 
at  Ningpo.2     Perhaps,  however,  the  most  effective  service  which  is 

1  The  Chinese  Recorder,  June,  1896,  p.  308 ;  February,  1897,  p.  92  j  March,  1897, 
p.  145;  November,  1897,  p.  554;  The  Sentinel,  August,  1896,  p.  98. 

3  "  I  may  claim  for  the  Christian  Church  in  China  that  an  uncompromising 
attitude  toward  opium  has  led  to  painstaking  and  thorough  investigation  with  a  view 
<o  convincing  gainsayers.  Among  the  leaflets  published  last  year  is  a  statement  con- 
cen  !ng  the  questions  addressed  to  smokers,  so  that  by  recording  and  translating 
answers  signed  in  the  presence  of  trustworthy  witnesses  we  might  contribute  to 
knowledge  on  the  subject.  This  testimony  to  the  baleful  influence  of  opium  is 
collected  at  first  hand,  and  from  the  smokers  themselves,  which  is  surely  a  distinct 
advantage.  Out  of  many  papers  filled  in  and  signed  there  was  not  a  smoker  who 
did  not  wish  to  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  his  habit.  If  opium  is  to  be 
restricted  or  prevented  from  sapping  the  strength  of  China,  this  result  will  be 
brought  about  in  large  part  by  the  testimony  of  the  Christian  Church.  There  is  one 
important  fact  to  be  noted  in  this  connection.  Where  the  smoker  is  reclaimed  and 
breaks  off  the  habit,  it  is  almost  always  through  his  contact  with  Christianity. 
It  would  seem  to  need  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  to  accomplish  what  is  re- 
quired.    AH  lesser  motives  to  reform  are  inadequate.     Seldom  indeed  does  a  man 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


120 


rendered  by  missionaries  is  in  connection  with  hospitals  and  opium 
refuges  where  special  provision  is  made  for  treating  the  victims  of  the 
habit  with  Christian  kindness  and  scientific  skill.>  It  is  the  practice  of 
almost  every  mission  hospital  in  China  to  provide  special  treatment  for 
those  who  are  under  its  power.  Such  able  and  experienced  medical 
missionaries  as  Drs.  Otte  of  Amoy,  Cousland  of  Swatow,  Main  of 
Hangchow,  and  his  predecessor,  Dr.  James  Gait,  the  late  Dr.  John 
Kenneth  Mackenzie  of  Tientsin,  Dr.  Atwood  of  Fenchofu,  Dr. 
Machle  of  Lien  Chow,  Drs.  Pritchard  and  Atterbury  of  Peking,  Dr. 
Christie  of  Moukden,  Dr.  Davenport  of  Wuchang,  Dr.  Douthwaite 
of  Chefoo,  and  many  others,  are  constantly  treating  the  besotted  and 
helpless  victims  of  the  drug.2  Unhappily,  the  desperate  hold  which 
opium  has  upon  its  habitual  slaves  renders  these  efforts  in  many  in- 
stances futile.  It  is  stated  upon  the  best  authority  that  not  more 
than  from  five  to  ten  per  cent,  of  those  treated  are  permanently  cured, 
and  that  in  almost  every  instance  of  a  successful  case  Christianity  is 
the  secret  of  the  cure.3     His  Excellency  Li  Hung  Chang,  during  a 

outside  a  Christian  church  give  up  opium  when  once  the  craving  has  been  formed. 
The  task  before  the  Church  is,  on  the  one  hand,  to  utter  her  voice  against  this  evil, 
and,  on  the  other  hanH,  to  reclaim  and  restore  its  victims."— Rev.  T.  W.  Pearce 
(L.  M.  S.),  Honp  '■  ..g,  China. 

"  Missions  have  especially  benefited  the  social  life  of  the  Chinese  by  the  un- 
ceasing and  combined  warfare  against  the  opium  traffic.  The  Protestant  churches, 
as  a  whole,  give  no  countenance  to  opium-smoking,  opium-raising,  or  opium-selling. 
The  benefits  bestowed  are  not  merely  in  curing  the  Chinese  of  opium-smoking, 
but  in  saving  hundreds  of  people  in  every  city,  especially  among  the  women, 
from  the  effects  of  opium-poison,  taken  to  commit  suicide."— Rev.  Gilbert  Reid 
(Ind.),  Peking,  China. 

1  Cf.  article  by  Dr.  H.  T.  Whitney,  on  "  The  Value  and  Methods  of  Opium 
Refuges,"  in  "  Records  of  Shanghai  Conference,  1890,"  pp.  306-314.  See  also  The 
Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,  July,  1897,  pp.  368,  375  ;  The  Missionary,  August, 
1897,  p.  366 ;  and  Medical  Missions  at  Home  and  Abroad,  October,  1897,  p.  6 ;  The 
Review  of  Missions  (Nashville,  Tenn.),  July,  1898,  pp.  18-28. 

2  "  Dr.  Mackenzie  writes  :  '  You  will  see  how  the  work  among  opium-smokers 
has  been  increased.  For  the  first  ten  months  only  eight  persons  agreed  to  enter  the 
hospital.  During  the  past  year  [1876]  the  numbers  have  increased  to  two  hundred 
and  thirty-five ;  and  during  the  last  month  and  a  half,  three  hundred  and  twenty 
have  entered  the  wards  for  treatment.'  At  a  subsequent  date  he  writes :  '  In  one 
year  seven  hund-ed  persons  were  treated  for  opium  habits  in  the  Hankow  hospital.'  " 
— Creegan,  "  Great  Missionaries  of  the  Church,"  p.  150. 

In  the  hospital  at  Chefoo  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Douthwaite  (C.  I.  M.),  two 
hundred  and  fourteen  opium-smokers  were  admitted  for  treatment  in  one  season. 
See  "The  Opium  Habit,"  by  A.  W.  Douthwaite,  M.D.,  printed  at  \^k  Mercury 
office,  Shanghai,  1891. 

»  "  The  only  permanent  and  reliable  cure  for  the  opium  habit  is  the  hearty 


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130 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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visit  to  the  United  States,  in  1896,  in  an  inten'iew  with  the  represen- 
tatives of  various  missionary  societies,  referred  to  the  use  of  opium 
as  one  of  the  great  curses  of  the  Chinese  people,  and  expressed  in  very 
appreciative  terms  his  gratification  with  the  efforts  made  by  American 
missionaries  to  mitigate  this  evil.' 

In  the  Island  of  Formosa,  since  it  has  passed  under  Japanese  rule, 
measures  have  been  taken  to  restrict  the  importation  and  use  of  opium. 

Public  sentiment  in  Japan  is  firm  upon  this  sub- 

japancM  poUcy  in     j^^ct,  and  influential  meetings  to  support  the  Gov- 

Formoia.  emment  in  maintaining  such  a  policy  in  Formosa 

as  prevails  in  the  Japanese  Empire  have  been 
held  in  Tokyo.  Many  difficulties  have  arisen,  and  the  plan  finally 
adopted  is  one  of  limited  restriction,  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  result 
ultimately  in  complete  prohibition  of  the  use  of  the  drug,  as  soon  as 
this  can  be  accomplished  with  safety.  The  system  now  in  use  is  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  that  in  operation  in  Burma,  with  some  additional 
restraints.  It  seems  desirable  that  more  effective  measures  should 
be  taken,  or  at  least  such  as  will  eventually  extirpate  the  evil  rather 
than  perpetuate  it  under  a  system  of  patronage  in  which  there  is 
opportunity  for  evading  ineffective  restraints.'-  The  attitude  of  mis- 
sions in  Formosa  is  indicated  by  the  statement  of  Dr.  MacKay  that 
"  throughout  our  field  hundreds  have  been  relieved  and  thousands 
kept  from  the  deadly  opium  habit  by  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and   Him  crucified." 

adoption  of  Christianity.  Cures  abound  among  natives,  but  perhaps  ninety-five 
per  cent,  lapse."  — Rev.  Donald  M.irC.illivray  (C.  P.  M.),  Chu-Wang,  China. 

"  Opium-smokers  have  been  rt^^.ued,  and  their  families  saved  from  ruin,  when 
the  victims  were  cured  in  the  early  stages  of  their  evil  life."— Rev.  Frederick 
Galpin  (U.  M.  F.  M.  S.),  Ningpo,  China. 

"  Unless  an  opium-smoker  is  soundly  converted,  I  have  very  little  hope  of  per- 
manent benefit."  — Rev.  Hunter  Corbett,  D.IJ.(P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Chefoo,  China. 

"  Mr.  Li,  an  opium-smoker  for  twenty  years,  renounced  the  opium  habit,  and 
received  the  Gospel  while  in  the  hospital  [Hiau  Kan]  ;  the  period  of  his  probation 
is  nearly  over ;  he  has  stood  firm,  and  is  expecting  to  be  baptized  in  a  few  dayj. 
Physically  and  morally  he  is  a  new  man."—"  Report  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  1897,"  p.  51. 

1  His  words  were  as  follows :  "  Before  I  bring  my  reply  to  a  conclusion,  I  have 
only  two  things  to  mention.  The  first,  the  opium-smoking,  being  a  great  curse  to 
the  Chinese  population,  your  societies  have  tried  their  best,  not  only  as  anti-opium 
societies,  but  to  afford  the  best  means  to  stop  the  craving  for  the  opium ;  and  also 
you  receive  none  as  your  converts  who  are  opium-smokers." — Report'id  in  ThtNeio 
York  Tribune,  September  2,  1896. 

*  The  new  regulations  are  printed  in  full  in  The  Friend  of  China,  April,  1897, 
p.  42. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SS/OyS 


131 


In  India  the  question  of  opium  has  two  important  aspects.    One 
of  these  relates  to  the  government  policy  in  establishing  its  own 
monopoly  of  production  and  sale,  and  especially 
of  exportation  to  China  and  elsewhere.     The  other   a  eompUn  probUm  m 
pertains  to  its  use  under  licensed  facilities  in  India  '"**'■• 

itself.   The  opium  policy  maintained  there  by  the 
Government  is  a  public  question  which  weighs  heavily  upon  the  con- 
sciences  of  a  large  portion  of  the   British  people.     Ceaseless  and 
strenuous  agitation  having  in  view  the  withdrawal  of  the  Government 
from  its  patronage  of  the  opium  traffic,  and  the  entire  repudiation 
of  its  dismal  responsibility  for  the  extensive  manufacture  and  large 
exportation  of  the  drug,  has  been  going  on  for  many  years.     The  re- 
port of  the  recent  Parliamentary  Commission  was  a  disappointment  m 
anti-opium  circles,  but  the  subject-matter  brought  to  public  notice  in 
the  printed  documents  of  the  Commission  is  of  permanent  value,  and, 
in  the  estimation  of  a  candid  reader,  may  be  interpreted  quite  as  much 
in  the  interest  of  the  anti-opium  agitation  as  against  it.     Its  report  will 
not  carry  conviction  to  those  who  have  any  sufficient  realization  of  the 
moral  principles  at  stake  in  the  whole  question.     It  was  perhaps  to  be 
expected  that  a  Parliamentary  Commission  to  examine  a  source  of 
revenue  in  British  India  would  not  fail  to  taVe  the  most  lenient  view 
of  the  moral  stringency  involved  in  the  .         .m,  and  justify  to  the 
limit  of  possibility  the  attitude  of  the  Govern,    nt  in  deference  to  what, 
from  an  official  point  of  view,  would  seem  to  be  a  financial,  political, 
and  economic  advantage.' 

There  are  indications,  however,  that  the  Government  of  India  is 
inclined  to  a  somewhat  reactionary  policy  in  favor  of  restriction,  and 
that  to  a  hitherto  unwonted  extent  it  is  ready  to   ^^  ^^^  g^,^,^^  q^^^^„. 
respond  to  any  reasonable  appeal  to  close  opium    ment  reeogniiing  the 
dens  and  prohibit  as  far  as  possible  the  exten-      •"„'j;;^';;.°[,;'" 
sion  of  the  perilous  habit  among  the  people.      It 
has,  at  the  request   of  the   Anglo-Indian   Temperance  Association, 
promptly  suppressed  the  opium  dens  of  Lucknow,  an  action  quite  in 
harmony  with  its  own  declared  purpose  to  do  away  with  the  practice 
of  opium-smoking  in  government  licensed  shops.     Mr.  W.  S.  Caine, 
M.P.,  reports  a  gratifying  willingness  on  the  part  of  the  Indian  of- 
ficials to  take  vigorous  repressive  measures.2     it  would  seem  as  if  the 

1  A  valuable  abstract  of  opium  statistics  for  the  ten  years  ending  1895  will  be 
found  in  TAe  Friend  of  China,  April.  1897.  P-  60.  Cf.  also,  for  a  trenchant  state- 
ment  on  the  subject,   The  Illustrated  Missionary  Nnvs,  July,  1898,  pp.  lOO,  loi. 

J  Abkari,  July,  1897,  p.  75. 


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139 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  FKOORESS 


Ij  . 


success  of  prohibition  in  Burma,  combined  with  an  awakened  sense  of 
responsibility  in  view  of  the  growing  evil,  had  quickened  the  readiness 
of  the  authorities  to  act.  Moreover,  the  failure,  in  large  measure,  of 
the  opium  crop  for  eight  successive  years »  has  diminished  the  quantity 
which  the  Government  has  been  able  to  obtain,  and  this,  of  rourse,  has 
involved  a  forced  diminution  of  income.  Providence  appears  to  be 
demonstrating  in  a  happy  degree  the  possibility  of  the  survival  of  the 
British  Government  in  India  without  the  opium  revenue,  a  fact  which 
there  seems  to  have  been  extreme  reluctance  to  concede  on  the  part 
of  the  friends  of  the  traffic.  The  whole  question  is  one  of  crucial  im- 
portance to  the  social  welfare  of  coming  generations.  The  growth  of 
the  habit  where  there  is  no  effective  restraint  seems  to  be  inevitable, 
and,  if  India  is  to  escape  the  social  desolations  that  opium  has  wrought 
in  China,  much  will  depend  upon  the  spirit  and  activity  of  the  Indian 
authorities  in  dealing  with  the  problem. 

The  sentiment  of  Christian  missions  in  India  is  overwhelmingly 

opposed  to  opium,  although  there  seems  to  be  on  the  part  of  some 

resident  missionaries  a  spirit  of  mild  tolerance 

..mrMV:o„°r„"dT.n  ^°"'"'l*  '^'^  Government,  and  a  dispo.sition  to 
miuionaria*.  question  the  presence  of  any  very  serious  danger 
to  the  people  of  India  from  the  opium  habit. 
Even  in  such  instances  a  distincti(>n  is  often  made  between  their  per- 
sonal wishes  and  views,  and  the  attitude  which  is  justified  towards 
the  Indian  Government.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  all  missionaries,  with 
Dr.  Sommerville  of  Jodhpore,  "  would  rejoice  to  see  the  absolute  and 
complete  suppression  of  the  opium  trade  with  China,  and  an  entire 
withdrawal  of  Government  from  all  share  in  this  trade,  and  in  the 
production  of  the  drug,"  while  at  the  same  time,  with  him,  some  may 
hesitate  to  participate  in  the  severe  condemnation  of  the  Government 
which  many  seem  to  think  is  justified.*    There  is  no  doubt,  however, 

>   The  Sentinel,  May,  1896,  p.  6$;  May,  1897,  p.  58;  Ahkari,  July,  1897,  p.  95. 

»  "  With  regard  to  the  opium  and  hemp  habits,  although  as  a  medical  man  I 
have  been  brought  into  large  and  fretiuent  contact  with  the  question,  and  have  seen 
some  of  the  disastrous  results  which  follow  the  use  of  these  drugs,  my  experience 
in  Rajputana,  where  opium  is  grown  to  some  extent  and  a  much  greater  amount 
used,  does  not  justify  me  in  adopting  the  strong  language  and  extreme  statements 
affected  by  those  who  have  lately  been  agitating  for  the  suppression  of  these  drugs 
as  articles  of  popular  use  and  commerce.  Personally  I  would  rejoice  to  see  the 
absolute  and  complete  suppression  of  the  opium  trade  with  China,  and  an  entire 
withdrawal  of  Government  from  all  share  in  this  trade,  and  in  the  production  of  the 
drug.  The  individual  responsibility  of  Government  officers  and  the  distribution  of 
accountability  is  quite  another  aspect  of  the  matter,  and  missionary  influence  has 


\^ 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


133 


Uut  miMionary  ientimenl  in  India  if,  with  but  (ew  cxccptioni,  in  «n 
Attitude  of  intense  antipathy  to  any  powible  exten»ion  of  the  habit 
among  the  people,  and  that  the  influence  of  the  Christian  Church 
there,  as  elsewhere,  will  be  in  stri  nuous  opposition  to  any  participation 
on  the  part  of  Christians  in  tltis  degrading  and  ruinous  business. 

From  Siam  there  is  gratifying  testimony  to  the  power  of  Christian 
missions  in  reforming  the  victims  of  opium.'  It  is  said  that  "  the  first 
government  document  ever  printed  in  Siam  was  the  King's  Proclama- 
tion contrabanding  opium,  issued  April  27,  1839,  from  the  mission 
press  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M."  '■  The  battle  is  easier  among  the  Siamese 
because  of  the  opposition  of  the  Government  to  the  traffic. 

Persia  seems  to  be  in  peril  from  the  opium  habit.     The  cultivation 
of  the  drug  is  increasing,  and  its  use  is  becoming  more  extensive. 
Opium  dens  are  found  in  considerable  numbers  in 
the  prominent  cities  of  Persia.     It  is  estimated  by  ,»-;';^;':n:.:::;r^ 
the  Rev.  Lewis  F.  EsseUtyn  that  nearly  four  mil-     and  th«  South  •••■. 
lioi.  pounds  are  consumed  annually,  representing 
a  valuation  of  over  nine  million  dollars.'  The  annual  exportation  already 
exceeds    wo  million  dollars  in  value.     Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  in  a 
recent  cc    munication  from  Persia,  asserts  that  "  the  opium  habit  has 
spread  line  wild-fire,  and  medical  missionaries  who  see  the  inside  of 
Persian  life  declare  that  it  is  as  common  there  as  in  China."     Islam,  he 
declares,  .s  not  contending  at  all  against  its  increase.     The  Christian 
churches  throughout  Persia  regard  opium  in  the  same  category  with 
strong  drink,  and,  so  far  as  their  influence  extends,  aie  equally  unwav- 
ering in  their  opposition  to  the  habit. 

From  South  Africa  there  are  very  recent  and  ominous  reports  of  a 
growing  opium  habit  among  native  communities.  Paragraphs  on  the 
subject  in  prominent  papers  give  some  of  the  facts.*    The  late  Mr.R.  L. 

too  often  been  used  to  denounce  unjustly  both  men  and  measures  because  these 
were  not  carefully  or  properly  considered."— Dr.  James  Sommerville  { U.  P.C.  S.  M.), 
Judhpore,  India. 

>  "Wherever  Christianity  has  been  fully  accepted  by  the  Lao  people,  it  has 
reformed  the  victims  of  the  opium  habit.  So  far  as  I  know,  there  is  only  one 
church-member  whose  absolute  reform  in  this  regard  is  open  to  question.  And  I 
have  personally  known  many  trophies  of  the  grace  of  God  from  among  the  ranks 
of  the  opium-users,  most  of  them  being  reformed  without  the  aid  of  any  medication." 
-Rev.  W.  C.  Dodd  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Lampoon,  Laos. 

«  l^oman's  Work  for  IVoman,  July,  1897,  p.  187. 

>  Vol.  L,  p.  84,  note. 

«  "  Liquor  of  tht  most  fiery  and  poisonous  description,  specially  distilled  for 
native  consumption,  has  long  constitu.ed  a  serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of  those  who 


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134 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Stevenson  has  called  our  attention  to  the  existence  of  an  opium  traffic 
dating  back  many  years,  practically  under  the  patronage  of  the  French 
Government,  in  the  Marquesas  Islands— a  fact  concerning  which  the 
world  knows  virtually  nothing.* 

It  is  pleasant  to  note  that  in  some  of  the  Australian  colonies  there 
is  vigorous  government  action  prohibiting  the  use  of  opium  except 
for  medical  purposes,  although,  unhappily,  the  law  applies  only  to 
aboriginals.* 


3.  Restraint  upon  Gambling.— The  ethics  of  gambling  have 

been  thoughtfully  and  wisely  treated  in  a  little  volume  by  Professor 

W.  Douglas  Mackenzie.^     It  is  an  antichristian 

The  lociai  danger*  of    ^s  Well  as  anti-social  vice,  and  has  been  rightly 

gambUng.  called  by  Lord  Beaconsfield  "a  vast  engine  of 

national    demoralisation."      Its    prevalence  will 

quickly  work  the  ruin  of  the  individual,  personally  and  socially,  and 

bring    a   permanent   collapse   to   all   economic   prosperity.      It  has 

properly  been  pronounced  in  its  moral  aspects  a  "veiled  felony." 

The  public  conscience  has  vigorous  spasms  of  severity  and  condemna- 

desire  to  civilize  the  Kaffir,  and  is  wrecking  the  dusky  races  of  Africa,  morally  as 
well  as  physically.  Not  content  with  this,  the  Europeans  have  now  initiated  the 
black  man  to  the  charms  of  opium,  the  nefarious  traffic  of  which  is  carried  on  openly 
in  the  Transvaal,  where  white  people  keep  dens  in  which  Kaffir  men  and  women  pay 
sixpence  a  smoke.  The  hideous  effects  of  the  opium  on  the  semi-savage  Kaffirs 
who  work  at  the  mines  are  already  showing  themselves  in  a  very  marked  degree,  and 
the  mine  managers  are  unanimous  in  declaring  that  the  curse  is  many  times  greater 
than  that  of  alcohol."— 7-*^  Ntw  York  Tribune,  October  11,  1897. 

"The  Daily  Chronicle  calls  attention  to  the  fact,  reported  from  Johannesburg, 
that  in  that  city  '  many  Chinamen  do  a  thriving  business  by  supplying  Kaffirs  with 
the  deadly  drug  prepared  for  smoking.'  Chinamen,  however,  are  not  the  only  or 
even  the  chief  sinners  in  this  respect.  The  nefarious  traffic  is  carried  on  more  or 
less  openly  by  large  numbers  of  Europeans,  who  keep  dens  where  Kaffirs  and 
coloured  women  pay  sixpence  for  each  smoke.  The  sanitary  police  are  said  to  be 
quite  aware  of  the  abuse,  and  it  is  further  alleged  that  a  well-known  firm  supplies 
Chinamen  with  the  drug."— Quoted  in  The  Friend  of  China,  October,  1897,  p.  99. 

1  Stevenson,  "  In  the  South  Seas,"  pp.  73-75  (Scribner's  ed.,  1896). 

'  The  Sentinel,  March,  1896,  p.  33. 

J  Mackenzie,  "  The  Ethics  of  Gambling."  Cf.  also  The  Century,  February, 
1892,  article  by  C.  C.  Buel,  on  "  The  Degradation  of  a  State,  or  the  Charitable 
Career  of  the  Louisiana  Lottery  " ;  Harper's  Magazine,  February,  1895,  article  by 
John  Bigelow,  on  "What  is  Gambling?";  The  Economic  Review,  April,  1897, 
article  by  Rev.  Arthur  Barnett,  M.A.,  entitled  "  Why  are  Betting  and  Gambling 
Wrong?  "  The  Congregational  Sunday-School  and  Publishing  Society  of  Best'  u 
issues  a  little  pamphlet  entitled  "  Gambling,  or  Getting  Something  for  Nothing." 


THE  SOCIAL  KEHULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


136 


tion  in  dealing  with  it,  and  sternly  prohibits  all  licensed  facilities  for 
its  indulgence.  The  best  of  laws  exist  in  almost  all  civilized  coni- 
munities,  but  are  not  always  enforced  as  they  should  be.  The  recent 
formation  of  the  Naf-^nal  Anti-Gambling  League  in  England,  the 
new  restrictions  in  the  Australian  colonies,  and  the  vigorous  municipal 
action  in  many  prominent  cities  of  Christendom,  all  indicate  the  com- 
mendable attitude  of  civilization  towards  the  vice.  The  difficulties 
attending  the  prohibition  of  lotteries  show  the  powerful  resources  of 
the  gambling  fraternity,  but  the  persistent  warfare  which  is  waged 
against  this  evil  business  reveals  the  determination  of  Christian  civili- 
zation to  destroy  it. 

A  singular  and  most  regrettable  exception  to  this  general  condem- 
nation of  gambling,  is  the  readiness  of  some  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
authorities  in  South  America  to  establish  lotteries 
for  the  benefit  of  their  Church  and  its  charitable     Lottery  scandals  in 
institutions.     The  President  of  the  United  States        So"*!*  America, 
of  Brazil  has  had  occasion,  while  refusing  to  sanc- 
tion the  efforts  of  the  Romish  Church  to  secure  lottery  privileges,  to 
administer  to  it  a  severe  rebuke  in  his  State  paper  declining  the  request. 
After  showing  that  such  schemes  are  unconstitutional  in  Brazil,  he  con- 
eludes  with  the  following  paragraph :     "  Let  it  be  further  added  that, 
as  the  principle  of  gaming  involved  in  lotteries  is  an  evil  condemned 
by  the  laws  both  of  morahty  and  of  political  economy,  disturbing 
labor,  ruining  the  poorer  classes,  and  turning  away  from  producti\e 
employment  a  large  mass  of  capital,  it  is  the  duty  of  those  in  authority, 
acting  for  the  best  interests  of  the  nation,  to  restrain,  or  even,  if  pos- 
sible, to  extinguish  this  evil,  and  not  to  encourage  it,  or  to  incite  to  its 
development  by  the  concession  of  lotteries  with  a  capital  so  enormous 
that  they   are   made   most  seductive   and   thus  most   pernicious." ' 
Years  ago   the   only   opposition   to    gambling   was   from   Christian 

1  The  Echo  of  Mission  Work  in  Brazil,  March  30,  1896,  p.  5.  This  Protestant 
missionary  paper  of  Brazil,  published  under  the  auspices  of  the  A.iierican  Church 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Protestant  Kpiscop.-il  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  commenting  upon  the  above  document,  remarks  as  follows  : 

"  I.  Here  is  the  ofTicial  organization  of  the  principal  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  Rio  de  Janeiro  asking  for  a  lottery  concession  in  order  to  sustain  its  institutions. 

"  2.  Here  is  the  President  of  the  Republic,  in  vigorous  and  intelligent  lan- 
guage, propounding  the  principle  of  religious  tolerance,  and  condemning  lotteries  as 
prejudicial  to  the  moral  interests  of  the  people. 

"  The  corruption  of  the  representatives  of  religion  saddens  us.  But  the  high 
Christian  spirit  that  breathes  in  the  President's  message  reveals  the  noble  aspira- 
tions and  the  reform  purpose  that  are  now  stirring  young  Brazil." 


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136  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

missionaries.  "Theirs  was  the  only  voice,"  writes  Dr.  H.  M.  Lane, 
of  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil,  "raised  against  lotteries  and  open  resorts  of 
gambling.  To-day  in  some  of  the  States  lotteries  are  prohibited,  on 
account  of  their  evil  tendency.  The  city  authorities  of  Sao  Paulo 
have  recently  forbidden  the  game  of  pelota,  and  closed  the  shops  of 
the  book-makers." 

In  spite  of  general  opposition  to  public  gambling  in  civilized 
communities,  private  gambling  seems  inconsistently  to  be  condoned 
and  tolerated  as  a  necessary  feature  of  individual  liberty,  although 
many  true  and  wise  words  have  been  uttered  by  the  leaders  of 
thought,  denouncing  unhesitatingly  its  deteriorating  effects,  and  brand- 
ing  it  as  it  deserves.^ 

Christian  missions  have  enlisted  all  their  forces  against  this  peril- 
ous vice,  which  has  an  almost  unchecked  indulgence  throughout  vast 
sections  of  heathen  society.     The  non-Christian 
The  paiiion  for        world  is  fully  susceptiblc  to  the  fascinations  of 
'""""octetV"*'""    the  habit  as  a  method  of  gaining  something  for 
nothing.     The  gambling  spirit,  moreover,  is  in 
harmony  with  heathen  ways  of  thinking  concerning  the  supernatural. 
It  is  simply  one  aspect  of  the  universal  passion  for  appealing  to  unseen 
agencies,  which  we  find  so  prevalent  in  necromancy,  divination,  witch- 
craft, and  a  thousand  superstitions  that  govern  even  the  common  life 
of  the  people.     The  turn  of  luck  is  a  part  of  the  daily  expectation 
of  those  who  know  little  of  an  intelligent  use  of  the  faculties  com- 
bined  with  trust  in  a  divine  Providence. 

The  Japanese  Government  more  than  any  other  seems  of  late  to 

1  "  There  is  one  way  of  wasting  time,  of  all  the  vilest,  because  it  wastes  not  time 
only,  but  the  interest  and  energy  of  great  minds.  Of  all  the  ungentlemanly  habits 
into  which  you  can  fall,  the  vilest  is  betting,  or  interesting  yourselves  in  the  issues 
of  betting.  It  unites  every  condition  of  folly  and  vice ;  you  concentrate  your  inter- 
est upon  a  matter  of  chance  instead  of  upon  a  subject  of  true  knowledge,  and  you 
back  opinions  which  you  had  no  ground  of  forming,  simply  because  they  are  your 
own.  All  the  insolence  of  egotism  is  in  this,  and  so  far  as  the  love  of  excitement 
is  complicated  with  the  hope  of  winning  money,  you  turn  yourselves  into  the  basest 
sort  of  tradesmen— those  who  live  by  speculation."— John  Ruskin. 

"  Now  all  this  is  bad,  bad,  nothing  but  bad.  Of  all  habits,  gambling  is  the  one 
I  hate  most  and  have  avoided  most.  Of  all  habits,  it  grows  most  on  eager  minds. 
Success  and  loss  alike  make  it  grow.  Of  all  habits,  however  much  civilised  men 
may  give  way  to  it,  it  is  one  of  the  most  intrinsically  savagt.  Historically,  it  has 
been  the  fierce  excitement  of  the  lowest  brutes  in  human  form  for  ages  past.  Mor- 
ally, it  is  unchivalrous  and  unchristian."— Charles  Kingsley,  in  Letter  to  his  Son. 


% 


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^HE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


137 


be  making  an  honest  effort  to  suppress  this  evil.    The  number  of 
arrests  reported  for  gambling  in  Japan,  in  1894,  was  36,560,  of  which 
51  were  for  engaging  in  lotteries.     Its  legal  pro- 
hibition in  China  is  generally  inoperative.     In    Native  Chriitunt  do 
fact,  some  of  the  leading  Chinese  officials  are  in-  "»*  gamble, 

veterate  gamblers,  and  lotteries  on  an  enormous 
scale  are  frequently  established  under  the  highest  patronage.*  It  is 
clearly  understood,  however,  in  all  mission  circles  that  when  a  man 
becomes  a  Christian  he  breaks  at  once  and  forever  with  this  habit. 
Church  discipline  is  severe  in  the  case  of  any  one  who  yields  to  the 
temptation.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  frequent  references  in  mis- 
sionary reports  and  magazines  to  the  conversion  of  gamblers  and  their 
immediate  discontinuance  of  the  habit.  In  one  instance  of  a  lapse  on 
the  part  of  a  Christian  native  at  Ningpo  it  is  stated  that  the  repentance 
was  so  genuine  and  the  self-condemnation  so  sincere  that  the  man 
deliberately  chopped  off  his  finger  as  a  method  of  reminding  himself 
never  to  do  so  again.^  A  missionary  was  once  lamenting  the  little 
spiritual  progress  made  in  a  Christian  village  community  in  China, 
when  one  of  the  prominent  members  replied :  "  Sir,  you  don't  know. 
Formerly,  before  we  knew  the  trutl ,  ^ambling  was  common;  now 
it  has  been  utterly  abolished.  The  we  had  feuds  and  lawsuits 
every  month;  now  harmony  prevails."  It  is  customary  for  Christian 
converts  who  have  been  rescued  from  the  vice  to  give  it  up  in  Mo 
and  enter  upon  a  determined  warfare  against  it.^ 

I  "  As  an  instance  of  the  practices  of  China's  highest  officials,  irrespective  of  the 
moral  precepts  to  be  found  in  their  proclamations,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
the  famous  Weising  lottery  has  just  been  farmed  by  the  Government  to  three  of  the 
most  prominent  men  in  the  empire.  These  are  Li  Hau  Chang,  brother  of  Li  Hung 
Chang,  and  ex- Viceroy  of  Canton ;  Shao  Yu-lien,  ex-Governor  of  Formosa ;  and  Liu 
llsueh-hsun,  a  chin  thih,  or  metropolitan  graduate,  of  considerable  notoriety  in 
Canton.  To  obtain  the  sole  right  of  controlling  this  lottery  these  ofTicials  pay  to  the 
Imperial  Government  a  sum  of  Tls.  1,600,000,  anu  a  further  sum  of  Tls.  1,400,000 
is  required  for  working  expenses.  Estimating  their  profits  from  the  business  at  a 
low  figure,  over  2,000,000  taels  will  thus  be  drawn  from  the  people  by  means  of  this 
officially  organized  gambling  concern."— 77«^  Mail  (London),  June  21,  1897. 

>  "  Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1897,"  p.  351. 

'  Home,  "The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  329;  Gordon, 
"  An  American  Missionary  in  Japan,"  pp.  142-144. 

"  Two  men  recently  came  under  my  observation  who  previous  to  conversion  had 
been  noted  gamblers.  When  they  became  believers  in  the  Word  of  God  they  for- 
sook their  former  wicked  practices,  and  are  now  living  honest  and  honorable  lives." 
-Rev.  A.  M.  Cunningham  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Peking,  China. 


li. 


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138 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


In  an  account  of  his  conversion  to  Christianity  by  Mr.  Tare  A>ndo, 

now  prominent  in  temperance  work  in  Japan,  and  late  Japanese  Con- 

sul-General  to  Hawaii,  he  reports  that  gambling 

iHuitrations  of       was  very  prevalent  among  the  Japanese  in  Hawaii, 

changed  iivei.        xyalCA  missionary  work  was  established  among  them, 

when  a  great  and  cheering  change  took  place.* 

In  the  midst  of  a  Christian  service  in  the  Congo  Valley,  a  native  in 

the  audience  called  out  to  the  preacher :    "I  shall  gamble  no  more. 

I  believe  in  God's  palaver,  and  accept  it  from  this  day."     "  This  man 

had  gambled  from  boyhood,"  writes  a  missionary,  "  gambled  day  and 

night."  =    The  incident  is  typical  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  awaken 

a  sluggish  and  hardened  conscience,  and  call  a  halt  in  the  indulgence 

of  a  hfelong  vice.     In  a  copy  of  The  Spectator  (London),  for  January 

4,  1896,  is  found  a  significant  communication  from  the  local  Secretary 

in  Madagascar,  of  the  Friends'  Foreign  Mission  Association,  in  reply 

to  a  statement  which  had  been  quoted  from  a  correspondent  of  one  of 

the  London  papers,  asserting  that  gambling  was  practised  b-  'he  Queen 

and  her  courtiers.     The  letter  may  speak  for  itself.-     In  a  series  of 

papers  by  veteran  missionaries,  published  in  The  Church  Missionary 

1  "A  Methodist  Episcopal  missionary,  the  Rev.  K.  Miyama,  came  from  San 
Francisco  to  engage  in  work  among  the  Japanese  laborers  [in  Hawaii].  As  the 
result  of  Mr.  Miyama's  work,  as  well  as  his  earnest  preaching,  laboring  specially 
for  the  improvement  of  their  morals,  gamblers  began  to  throw  away  their  dice, 
drunkards  to  dash  to  pieces  their  cups,  and  the  disorderly  to  show  signs  of  genuine 
repentance.  For  the  time  being  the  troubles  of  the  consulate  greatly  diminished. 
The  result  of  all  this  was  that  I,  who  had  been  such  r  hater  of  Jesus  (while 
shrinking  from  the  very  thought),  began  seriously  to  reflect  and  inquire  whether, 
after  all,  the  Christian  religion  was  not  the  efficacious  source  of  this  moral  reform, 
and  whether  it  was  not  a  religion  well  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  ignorant  masses." 
See  article  by  Mr.  Taro  Ando  in  The  Gospel  in  all  Lands,  August,  1894,  p.  363. 

2  The  Rev.  W.  H.  Sheppard,  in  The  Missionary,  October,  1895,  p.  465. 
*  "To  THE  Editor  of  the  'Spfxtator.' 

"  Sir:  During  the  twenty-four  years  of  my  residence  in  Antananarivo,  I  have 
been  a  regular  reader  of  the  Spectator.  I  have  always  been  struck  with  your  fair, 
ness  in  being  willing  to  insert  communications  in  correction  of  any  statements  made 
in  your  paper  that  are  thought  to  be  incorrect.  May  I  therefore  ask  your  usual 
courtesy  with  regard  to  a  paragraph  in  the  Spectator  of  August  13th,  which  has  just 
arrived  here  ?  In  that  number,  quoting  from  the  Antananarivo  correspondent  of  the 
Times,  th.-  assertion  is  made  that  the  '  Queen  and  courtiers  take  to  gambling  of  the 
most  reckless  description.'  I  am  able  to  give  this  the  most  positive  contradiction. 
For  many  years  now  there  has  been  no  gambling  in  the  presence  of  the  Queen,  and 
it  has  been  strictly  forbidden  in  the  Royal  Palace.  I  am  perfectly  sure  that  you  will 
do  justice  10  the  Christian  lady  who  is  still  Queen  of  Madagascar,  by  inserting  this 
,g,t„.  "Henry  E.  Clark." 


At 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


139 


Gleaner,  is  one  by  the  Venerable  Archdeacon  Phair,  describing  the 
past  and  present  status  in  the  Diocese  of  Rupertsland.  His  backward 
glance  covers  a  period  of  thirty  years,  since  he  began  his  missionary 
work  in  that  part  of  the  world.  He  speaks  of  the  "  overwhelming 
argument  in  the  interests  of  Christian  missions  "  which  might  be  derived 
simply  from  the  passing  of  ancient  evils  and  loathsome  customs,  and  the 
entrance  of  a  sweeter  and  lovelier  life  into  society.  "  Gambling,  conjur- 
ing, dancing,  and  all  sorts  of  heathenism,  have  given  way  before  the 
mighty  power  of  the  Gospel." »  The  facts  just  recorded  are  surely 
sufficient  to  indicate  that  if  Christian  missions  were  allowed  to  decide 
the  question,  gambling  would  cease  wherever  they  could  prevent  it. 


4.  Establishing  Higher  Standards  of  Personal  Purity.— 
That  Christianity  is  at  war  with  heathen  vice  and  has  an  urgent  mes- 
sage of  reproof  and  prohibition  concerning  every 
form  of  immorality  is  a  fact  which  has  been  made       Miition  churches 
plain  by  all  history  and  experience,  and  which    promote  clean  uving. 
every  reader  of  the  Word  of  God  knows  to  be 
true.     All  that  is  needful  in  this  connection  is  to  bring  forward  some 
illustrative  evidence  to  show  that  missions  have  actually  introduced 
new  standards  of  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  planted  in  the  indi- 
vidual and  social  life  of  once  shameless  communities  a  new  reverence 
for  the  sweet  and  saintly  austerities  of  the  Christian  law  of  purity. 
In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  every  evangelical  church  in  mission  fields 
is  a  society  for  the  promotion  of  clean  living.     This  battle  with  immo- 
rality is  perhaps  the  most  intense  phase  of  conflict  with  social  evil  which 
is  known  in  mission  cliurches.     The  inflexible  principles  of  Christianity 
are  advocated  and  insisted  upon  as  a  condition  for  church-membership, 
and  prompt  discipline  is  the  rule  wherever  it  is  called  for  by  lapses  on 
the  part  of  professing  Christians.     White  Cross,  White  Ribbon,  and 
Purity  Societies  are  to  be  found  under  mission  auspices  in  China,  India, 
Burma,  Africa,  and   elsewhere.       In   this   good  work  the   World's 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  bears  an  honored  part.     Its 
representatives  have  visited  everj'  continent  as  missionaries  of  personal 
righteousness.     The  notable  services  rendered  by  Dr.  Kate  Bushnell 
and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  W.  Andrew  are  well  known  throughout  the  Chris- 
tian worid,  especially  their  exposure  of  the  irregularities  and  scandals 
connected  with  the  Irdian  cantonment  system,  in  defiance  of  legal 

1  Th:  Church  Missiomiry  (Jieantr,  May,  1894,  p.  67. 


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140 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


among  Chrittiani  in 
Japan. 


regulations.'  In  many  mission  fields  special  literature  on  the  subject 
is  already  in  circulation,  prepared  with  a  view  to  local  conditions  and 
requirements.  Christianity  has  aroused  discussion,  stimulated  agitation, 
set  in  motion  aggressive  plans,  and  organized  definite  practical  efforts 
for  the  suppression  of  moral  evils  and  the  accentuation  of  personal 
righteousness.  This  is  all  very  different  from  the  laissez-faire  policy 
which  has  hitherto  prevailed. 

In  Japan  the  agitation  originated  almost  exclusively  in  Christian 
circles,  but  it  has  commended  itself  to  many  of  the  best  citizens  of  the 
empire,  and  has  led  to  movements  with  the  same 
A  refarm  movement  end  in  view  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  not 
known  as  professed  converts.  The  Christian 
press  has  written  boldly  and  loyally  on  this  theme, 
and  concerted  effort  has  been  made  to  secure  government  action  with 
a  view  to  the  withdrawal  of  its  patronage  of  vice,  and  the  abolition  of 
the  system  of  license.  Several  local  assemblies  in  different  parts  of 
the  empire  have  been  appealed  to  by  Christian  reformers,  and  in  some 
instances  resolutions  for  the  abolishment  of  licenses  have  been  carried. 
The  native  Christians  of  Kyoto,  as  long  ago  as  1890,  prepared  a  pe- 
tition known  as  "  The  Kyoto  Memorial  for  the  Abolition  of  Licensed 
Prostitution  in  Japan,"  and  forwarded  the  same  to  the  Chairmen  of 
both  Houses  of  the  Imperial  Diet.  This  printed  memorial  was  circu- 
lated largely  in  Japan,  and  received  numerous  signatures.  It  is  a 
thoroughgoing  document,  dealing  with  the  subject  in  wise  and  moderate 
language,  yet  presenting  facts  and  arguments  with  singular  clearness, 
brevity,  and  force.^  The  appeal,  while  received  with  consideration, 
produced  no  practical  result  so  far  as  official  action  of  the  Imperial 
Diet  was  concerned.  In  some  local  assemblies  there  has  been  more 
success,  but  the  lack  of  pronounced  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  the 
movement  stands  in  the  way  of  progress.  It  is  evident,  however,  that 
there  has  been  a  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  Christian  public  of  Japan 
towards  this  evil— a  change  which  has  extended  quite  beyond  the 
bounds  of  these  evangelical  communities.  "  Young  men  who  are 
Christians,"  writes  a  missionary,  "  are  noted  and  praised  for  their  pure 


n 


.Jir 


1  See  "  Report  of  the  Committee  Appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Indi;\ 
to  Inquire  into  the  Rules,  Regulations,  and  Practice  in  the  Indian  Cantonments  aiM 
Elsewhere  in  India,  with  Regard  to  Prostitution  "  (Blue  Book  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, 1893). 

2  "  The  Kyoto  Memorial  for  the  Abolition  of  Licensed  Prostitution  in  Japan, 
Addressed  to  Members  of  Both  Houses  of  the  Imperial  Diet  through  Their  Presi- 
dents"  (Kyoto,  December,  1890). 


ili*K^; 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  AflSSIOXS 


141 


lives."  The  leaders  in  the  movement  for  the  abolition  of  licensed  sin 
are,  as  a  rule,  followers  of  Christ,  but  not  in  every  case,  as  there  are 
others— in  most  instances  those  who  have  been  impressed  by  the 
highei  standard  of  living  taught  by  Christians  and  exhibited  in  their 
lives— who  have  been  prominent  in  the  advocacy  of  a  decided  change 
in  the  policy  of  the  Government  towards  this  desolating  social  evil. 
Societies  under  native  control  have  been  organized  in  different  places 
for  rescuing  the  depraved,  and  conducting  aa  aggressive  warfare  against 

vice.* 

A  little  pamphlet  entitled   "The   Problem  of   Social   Purity  in 
Japan  "  was  issued  by  missionary  ladies  of  the  American  Board  in  that 
country  during  the  year  1895,  containing  an  ad- 
dress to  Count  I  to,  in  the  name  of  the  Woild's    a  chrutian  appwi  to 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  by  the    J.p.n.M  .uthoriti... 
ladies  of  that  Board  residing  there.      It  urges 
action  by  the  Government  on  behalf  of  morality  and  the  protection  of 
Japanese  girls,  stating  facts  and  statistics  which  clearly  indicate  the 
urgent  need  of  official  intervention.^     It  contains  the  interesting  state- 
ment that  the  Japanese  Christian  ycung  men  of  California,  by  the  aid 
of  their  Consul,  have  been  instrumental  in  entirely  stopping  the  traffic 
in  Japanese  girls  at  San  Francisco.     The  closing  words  of  the  appeal 
reflect  the  spirit  of  Christian  missionaries  throughout  the  worid  upon 
this  delicate  and  burning  problem :   "  We  pray  your  Excellency,"  they 
write,  "  to  interfere  that  this  beautiful  land  of  Japan  be  not  made  the 
harlot  house  of  the  nations,  and  that  the  womanhood  of  Japan  may  be 
a  glory  instead  of  a  byword  and  jest  to  the  impure,  and  a  sorrow  and 

1  "  There  died  this  spring  [1895],  in  Okayama,  a  young  man,  Mr.  Hama,  who 
has  rendered  efficient  educational  and  evangelistic  service  in  both  Okayama  and  Tot- 
toii  prefectures,  and  who  more  than  any  other  person  was  influential  in  arousing  and 
keeping  alive  in  that  region  public  sentiment  on  the  social  purity  question.  Mr. 
Noyes  reports  from  Maebashi :  '  Socially  the  important  event  has  been  the  abolition 
of  licensed  prostitution  in  the  province,  the  act  going  into  efTect  January,  1894,  as 
the  result  of  fourteen  years  of  agitation.  Though  the  churches  as  such  took  no  part 
in  the  movement,  the  result  is  largely  due  to  the  efforts  of  individual  Christians,  and 
particularly  to  the  Young  Men's  .  ssociation,  who  deserve  all  the  praise  they  have 
received.  Though  the  act  is  in  force,  great  efforts  are  being  made  to  go  back  to  the 
old  system,  and  a  vote  of  reconsideration  recently  taken  in  the  prefectural  assembly 
showed  a  majority  of  only  one  in  favor  of  abolition.  The  vote  was  forty  to  thirty- 
nine.  It  is  plain  that  unless  the  Christians  bestir  themselves  the  foothold  which 
they  have  gained  will  soon  be  lost.'  "-Pettee,  "  A  Chapter  of  Mission  History  in 
Modern  Japan,"  p.  176. 

a  "  The  Problem  of  Social  Purity  in  Japan,"  printed  by  the  Yokohama  Seishi 
Bunsha,  1895.     Cf.  also  Life  and  Light  for  Woman,  August,  1895,  p.  350. 


11 


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iiil^^: 


143 


C/fRrSTfA.V  M/XS/O.VS  AXD  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


loathing  to  the  pure  of  all  lands."    Our  missionaries  are  thus  leading 
the  way,  and  the  better  class  of  natives  catch  the  spirit  of  reform.* 

In  a  thoughtful  article  by  Mr.  Tokiwo  Yokoi,  of  Tokyo,  Japan,  on 
"  The  Ethical  Life  and  Conceptions  of  Japanese,"  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing statement :  "  But  taking  the  body  of  for- 
T««timony  of  thought-  e'g"   missionaries  as  a  whole,   and   the  native 
fui  japantM  writers,    churches  as  they  are,  there  is  one  particular  in 
which  they  have  succeeded  in  impressing  on  the 
mind  of  the  Japanese  people  a  very  important  ethical  truth.     I  refer 
to  the  principle  of  monogamy  and  personal  purity.     I  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  the  Japanese  people  have  been,  as  a  rule,  polygamous,  or  that 
womanhood  among  them,  especially  in  the  better  classes,  had  not  a 
very  high  ideal  of  faithfulness  and  chastity.     But  monogamy  as  the 
only  true  principle  of  social  order,  and  purity  as  obligatory  upon  men 
as  upon  women,  were  never  clearly  understood.     If  to-day  our  best 
ethical  opinion  has  practically  endorsed  these  truths,  we  must  give  a 
large  measure  of  credit  to  the  foreign  missionaries  who  have  been  liv- 
ing among  us  for  nearly  forty  years."  -     In  Tokyo  it  is  reported  that 
there  are  now  over  one  hundred  Christian  writers,  of  whom  the  major- 
ity have  formed  themselves  into  an  association,  meeting  quarteriy  with 
a  view  to  the  discussion  of  important  questions  and  the  public  advo- 

1  "  A  favorable  sign  of  the  times  is  the  manifest  anxiety  the  better  class  of  men 
and  women  have  with  regard  to  the  low  moral  standard  of  the  people.  They  realize 
the  danger  which  threatens  the  ruin  of  this  fair  land  through  strong  drink,  licen- 
tiousness, and  idleness.  One  of  the  newspapers  of  Sendai  came  out  with  a  couple 
of  articles  exposing,  in  a  most  decided  manner,  the  immorality  of  the  city,  and  took  a 
stand  that  few  of  our  newspapers  in  America  are  brave  enough  to  take.  A  Tokyo 
paper  has  declared  itself  an  enemy  to  the  Tenrikyo  faith,  on  account  of  its  immoral 
practices,  exposing  the  wickedness  of  its  ceremonies,  and  pledges  itself  to  fight  the 
society  until  it  is  destroyed."— Miss  Lavinia  M.  Mead  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  in  The 
Baptist  Missionary  Kciir.v  (Madras),  September,  1896,  p.  323. 

"An  event  of  interest  in  the  national  life  is  the  series  of  papers  on  morals, 
written  by  Fukuzawa  Jukichi,  whom  we  may  call  the  most  prominent  educator  in 
the  empire.  These  papers  were  written  in  response  to  a  request  by  the  Education 
Dep.irtment  of  the  Government  for  treatises  on  the  subject  from  which  might  be 
selected  material  for  the  preparation  of  a  course  of  ethics  for  the  public  schools. 
Mr.  Fuknzawa's  essays,  while  not  giving  the  source,  are  clearly  drawn  from  Chris- 
tianity.  They  are  acknowledged  by  the  native  press  to  be  by  far  the  best  that  have 
been  offered.  Monogamy  and  other  Christian  practices  are  advocated  in  these  essays. 
The  family  life  as  we  see  it  only  under  Christianity  is  portrayed  in  glowing  colors." 
—  Rev.  E.  H.  Jones  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  Sendai,  Japan,  in  The  Baptist  Missionary 
Magazine,  January,  1897,  p.  15. 

a  IntemationalJoumal  of  Ethics,  January.  1896  p.  200.  Cf.  also  The  Church 
at  Home  and  Abroad,  April,  1896,  pp.  354,  355. 


THE  SOCIAL  KF.sri.rs  0/  .u/ss/oxs 


143 


cacy  of  such  views  as  they  are  able  to  agree  upon.  "  This  association 
has  already  declared  itself  as  opposed  to  licensed  prostitution  in  For- 
mosa."»  The  President  of  the  AWo  Kwai,  an  organization  for 
fostering  morality  among  the  people,  is  the  Hon.  Shigeki  Nishimura. 
In  a  lecture  delivered  not  long  ago  in  Sendai,  although  not  himself 
a  professing  Christian,  he  declared  that  the  remedy  for  national  perils 
was  in  "emphasizing  the  supreme  importance  of  morality."  "There 
are  indications,"  says  a  Japanese  periodical,  "  that  Mr.  Nishimura's 
thinking  has  been  influenced  by  Christianity.  It  is  sincerely  to  be 
hoped  that  he  will  in  time  see  that  the  best  and  most  stable  basis  for 
ethical  culture  is  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ."  * 

A  Japanese  Christian  woman,  Mrs.  Yajima,  the  President  of  the 
National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  has  presented  to  the 
Japanese  Diet  for  seven  consecutive  years  a  peti-      ^  p,ti,n.  e,„,,j 
tion  in  the  interests  of  purity,  asking  "that  men    for  higher  ttandarda 
and  women  receive  the  same  punishment  for  social  »'  mor«my  ^in  j.p«n.i« 
crimes."     It  was  rejected  every  year,  until  1897, 
when  it  was  accepted  and  passed  by  the  House  of  Lords.     "  Every 
church  bell  in  Japan,"  to  quote  a  prominent  journal,  "  ought  to  have 
rung,  and  every  Christian  should  have  hastened  to  send  this  faithful 
mother  heart  a  letter  of  appreciation   and  sympathy."'     The  in- 
fluence of  Christianity  in  the  direction  of  higher  standards  of  moral- 
ity is  not  merely  indicated  by  incidents  like  the  above,  but  is  freely 
acknowledged  by  men  of  prominence,  as  well  as  by  the  secular  press.* 

India  is  a  land  where  the  tendencies  to  impurity 
are  strong,  and  where  much  that  is  flagrant  and  changed  tentimmti  in 
debasing    has    been    promment    m    social   and         moral  purity, 
religious  life  for  centuries.     Christian   missions 
have  introduced  new  standards  of  self-control,  and  have  created  a  public 
sentiment  which  was  quite  unknown  in  the  past.'    It  is  no  uncommon 


H  » 


1  TAe  Japan  Evangelist,  February,  1896,  p.  195. 

a  Ibid.,  November,  1896,  pp.  63,  64.  »  IHd.,  April,  1897,  p.  J2i. 

«  "  One  of  the  large  native  daily  newspapers  in  Northern  Japan  says:  '  Our 
forty  millions  to-day  liive  a  higher  standard  of  morality  than  we  have  ever  known. 
There  is  not  a  hoy  or  girl  throughout  the  empire  who  has  not  heard  of  the  one- 
man,  one-woman  doctrine.  Our  ideas  of  loyalty  and  obedience  are  higher  than  ever. 
And  when  we  inqui/e  the  cause  of  this  great  moral  advance,  we  can  find  it  in  noth- 
ing  else  than  the  religion  of  Jesus.'  "—Quoted  in  The  Spirit  0/ Missions,  January, 
1895,  p.  8. 

»  "  I  am  constantly  receiving  testimony  from  native  friends  who  are  not  Chris- 
tians of  the  value  of  our  teaching  and  influence  on  private  and  public  morality,  ami 
my  own  observation  goes  to  confirm  this  testimony.    Within  the  circle  of  my  own 


"f 


144 


CHRIHTIAS  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PKOGKESS 


llWIi  ■  ■ 


thing  at  the  present  time  in  India  to  And  the  euence  of  locial  and 
moral  reform  advocated  with  elotjucnce  and  urged  with  high  and  sincere 
purpose  by  eminent  natives,  who  in  some  instances  are  Christians,  and 
in  others  are  not.  Such  bright  and  able  journals  as  IVie  InJian  Spto 
later  and  the  Suboiiha  Bxlrika,  of  Bombay,  The  Indian  Stvia/  Rtformtr 
and  The  Christia.i  Jhtriot,  of  Madras,  and  The  Indian  Messfnger,  of 
Calcutta,  serve  as  the  media  for  expressing  the  views  of  these  re- 
formers. The  annual  meetings  of  the  Indian  National  Social  Confer- 
ence, and  frequent  gatherings  of  various  local  associations  in  many 
sections  of  India,  give  much  attention  by  means  of  discussions,  lec- 
tures, resolutions,  and  practical  efforts  on  the  '  t  of  their  members,  to 
social  problems,  and  it  is  especially  noticeable  that  among  these  the 
cause  of  moral  purity  is  coming  to  the  front.' 

experience  mtny  men  do  not  now  flaunt  their  immorality  as  they  were  wont  to  do,  and, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  are  rather  abashed  in  the  presence  of  Christian  life  and 
opinion.  Such  a  thing  was  absolutely  unknown  until  the  adv'..it  of  Gospel  teach- 
ing, and  these  changes  in  public  sentiment,  even  though  they  are  limited  and  partial, 
are  a  welcome  sign  of  the  influence  of  missionary  effort,  direct  and  indirect."— Ur. 
James  Sommerville  (V .  V.  C.  S.  M.),  Jodhpore,  Rajputana,  India. 

Another  missionary,  referring  to  the  transformatio  s  in  public  opinion,  re- 
marks: "Gradually  Christian  teaching  and  example  are  awakening  public  feeling 
against  all  licentiousness.  Years  ago  the  Hindu  New  Vcar,  or  Ifoli,  was  the  occa- 
sion  for  a  general  indulgence  in  vice  and  obscenity.  No  woman  was  to  be  seen  on 
the  streets.  The  most  filthy  and  disgusting  songs  were  sung  in  public,  and  vile 
abuse  was  bandied  from  one  to  another.  Now  very  little  of  all  this  is  to  be  seen  or 
hcurd  in  or  about  towns  and  cities.  The  respc':»a'''  "la'ise^  have  risen  against  it, 
and  common  sentiment  taboos  the  old  objectionable  cu^ioiii.  The  public  conscience 
has  been  touched,  and  higher  and  better  conceptions  of  moral  parity  are  commend- 
ing themselves  to  the  people."— Rev.  D.  Hutton  (L.  M.  S.),  Miriapur,  India. 

"  The  lesions  and  examples  of  Christian  morality  are  gradually  changing  the  old 
idea  of  indulgence  and  slowly  creating  a  cons :ience  and  a  will  for  self-control,  while 
it  is  Christian  men  who  are  leavening  the  country  with  a  spirit  of  shame  concerning 
the  dancing-women. "—Rev.  L.  L.  Uhl,  Ph.D.  (Lu'.h.  G.  S.),  Guntur,  India. 

>  In  The  Indian  So<ial  Reformer  iax  April  12,  1896,  is  the  report  of  a  lecture 
delivered  by  Mr.  N.  K.  Ramasamayya,  B.A.,  B.L.,  at  a  public  meeting  of  the 
Madras  Hindu  Social  Reform  Association,  upon  "  Morality  in  India,  Past  and  Pres- 
ent." It  is  full  of  quickening  thought,  and  pervaded  by  a  sentiment  of  deep  ad- 
miration, and  even  reverence,  for  pure  morals.  His  words  of  instruct!  3n  and  exhorta- 
tion  to  his  fellow-countrymen  are  eloquent  and  uncompromising.  Referring  to  the 
well-known  scandal  of  the  nautch,he  remarks :  "The  institution  of  dancing-  or  nautch. 
women,  shamefully  called  devadasis,  attached  to  our  temples  is  a  standing  monu- 
ment of  our  moral  degradation.  In  this  connection  I  cannot  but  allude  to  the  rites 
of  Vamacharis,  which  are  most  infamous.  Yet  they  are  celebrated  in  the  sacred 
name  of  religion."  In  a  more  hopeful  strain  he  speaks  of  the  present  outlook  for 
reform,  as  follows:  "  The  moral  tone  of  the  people  is  now  greatly  elevated.  The 
introduction  of  ^Vestem  education  has  gone  a  great  way  in  promoting  good  mornh 


■J   '1 


THE  SOCIAL  RESV/.rS  OF  M/SS/OXS 


14S 


A  reform  which  ii  just  now  very  prominently  before  Indian  socivty 
is  known  a«  the  antinautch  movement,  which  originated  lome  yeart 
ago  at  Madras  among  Hindu*  themielve*.'     The 
agitation  is  vipnrous,  and.  under  the  patronage    ^iX^.h^-'^ur 
not  merely  of  Cnristians  but  of  Hindus,  forms  a  Mandau. 

part  of  almost  every  public  discussion  upon  social 
questions.  Influential  natives  of  Madras  have  recently  petitioned 
British  officials  to  withhold  their  patronage  of  tliis  institution.'  The 
subjoined  resolution  on  the  subject,  taken  from  the  records  of  the  Ninth 
Indian  Social  Conference,  held  at  Poona  in  December,  1895,  will  serve 
to  indicate  the  spirit  with  which  this  agitation  is  conducted.  It  was  re- 
solved by  Mr.  Raman  Bhai,of  Ahmedabad.and  carried  unanimously,  as 
follows :  "  The  Conference  records  it?  satisfaction  that  the  antinautch 
movement  has  found  such  general  support  in  all  parts  of  India,  and  it 
recommends  the  various  Social  Reform  Associations  in  the  country  to 
persevere  in  their  adoption  of  this  self-denying  ordinance,  and  to  sup- 
plement it  by  pledging  their  members  to  adhere  to  the  cardinal  princi- 
ple of  observing  on  all  occasions,  as  a  religious  duty,  purity  of  thought, 

in  India.     Morality  is  the  foundation  of  all  other  reforms.     It  is  a  necessary  and 
important  factor  of  religion,  of  sociology,  and  of  politics.     It  is  the  gmundwork 
on  which  the  whole  fabric  of  reform  should  be  built.     If  it  is  weak,  the  superstruc- 
ture, however  grand  and  imposing,  even  if  reared  with  all  possibi  .•  care,  will  inevitably 
come  to  the  ground.     In  our  times  the  merit  of  any  religion  is  tested  by  its  morality." 
Many  extracts  similar  to  the  above,   representing  the  awakened  and  militant 
reform   sentiment   of  enlightened    Hindu   society,  could   be   culled   from    InJ  .  n 
That  all  this  -s  an  indirect  result  of  Christianity  is  not  difTicult  to  believe. 
Its  aim  is  to  disLountenance  the  presence  and  performance  of  dancing-girls 
at  public  functions  snd  private  entertainments.     These  women— of  whom  there  are 
some  twelve  thousand  in  the  Madras  Presidency  alone,  according  to  the  recent  cen- 
sus—represent an  old  class  of  courtesans,  designed  for  service  in  the  temples,  and 
resembling  the  hiero-Jouhi  of  the  ancient  temple  of  Venus  at  Corinth.    Their  presence, 
with  their  music,  songs,  and  dancing,  has  been  hitherto  considered  indispensable  at 
Hindu  weddings  and  on  other  social  occasions."—"  Report  of  Work  among  the 
Educated  Classes  in  Connection  with  the  London  Mission,  Bangalore,  for  the  Year 

«893."  p.  14-  .  ,       .  ,  J 

»  The  following  significant  paragraph  is  taken  from  tlie  Madras  journal  entitled 
Prog'-tss,  for  February,  1896:  "  When  it  was  known  that  Lord  Elgin  would  visit 
Madras,  the  wealthy  citizen  who  distinguishes  himself  by  entertaining  Viceroys 
was  urged  by  social  reformers  not  to  have  nautch-girls,  but  he  gave  no  heed  to  the 
appeal.  At  the  entertainment,  when  the  Viceroy  and  the  Governor  were  sitting  side 
by  side,  a  nautch-girl  suddenly  came  forward,  and  began  her  performance.  The 
Viceroy  and  Governor  then  spoke  to  each  other ;  their  feelings  -vere  communicated 
to  their  host,  who  was  standing  near  a  pillar,  with  the  resu-  !;  U  the  performance 
was  stopped.  This  account  is  on  the  authority  of  an  eye.witn  .s.  It  it  hoped  that 
bereafter  nautch-girls  will  be  omitted  from  the  programmes  of  such  entertainments." 


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146 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


speech,  and  action,  so  as  to  purge  our  society  generally  of  the  evils  of 
low  and  immoral  surroundings." '  Another  hopeful  feature  of  this 
conflict  is  the  formation  of  Purity  Societies  in  different  parts  of  India, 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  which  are  in  accord  with  such  organizations 
as  the  White  Cross  Army,  the  White  Ribbon  Society,  and  others  of 
various  names.  While  calling  attentii)n  more  especially  to  the  organ- 
ized work  and  public  movements  on  behalf  of  social  righteousness,  we 
should  not  forget  the  mighty  influence  of  Christian  missions  in  kin- 
dling new  moral  aspirations  in  the  individual  heart.  This  aspect  of  the 
subject  may  be  less  conspicuous  and  not  so  easily  discoverable,  but 
its  effectiveness  is  incalculable. 

The  renewed  discussion  on  the  regulation  anr'  consequent  legaliza- 
tion of  vice,  as  embodied  in  what  are  known  as  t      Contagious  Disease 
Acts,  is  once  more  prominently  before  the  British 
Is  there  a  Christian     public,  especially  in  Connection  with  the  moral 

basis  for ''Regulated       ^^^^^^^   -^^  j^jj^        ,^^^^  j^  j^  ^  difficult  queStion  is 

not  to  be  denied,  and  it  is  evident  also  that  there 
is  a  difference  of  opinion  upon  the  subject  among  those  who  sin- 
icrely  desire  public  morality  and  are  truly  seeking  the  social  welfare. 
llie  standpoint  from  which  the  matter  is  viewed  is  all-important. 
It  may  be  regarded  as  preeminently  a  moral  question,  to  be  decided 
in  the  light  of  biblical  standards,  or  it  may  be  looked  upon  from  the 
heights  of  laissez-faire  officialism,  and  be  judged  in  the  hght  of  social 
expediency,  with  little  solicitude  for  the  higher  principles  involved. 
That  the  moral  aspects  of  the  question  are  deserving  of  first  considera- 
tion must  surely  be  maintained.  In  the  end,  if  these  are  honored 
and  conserved,  the  best  interests  of  all  concerned  will  be  promoted. 
It  is  claimed  upon  a  basis  of  sufficient  evidence  that  the  policy  of 
com{)romise  and  so-called  "regulation,"  as  represented  in  the  Conta- 
gious Disease  Acts,  fails  altogether  as  a  moral  restraint,  and  is  worth- 
less as  a  practical  expedient.-'  The  spectacle  of  a  civilized  govern- 
ment thus  facilitating  immorality  by  system  and  supervision  is  at 
once  startling  and  deplorable.  Surely  there  is  a  better  way— one  which 
will  aim  both  to  save  the  tempted  and  rescue  the  victim.' 


'  Prof^ress,  February,  1896,  p.  89.  Cf.  also  India,  March,  1896,  p.  91.  Further 
information  will  be  founil  in  a  letter  (rtmi  the  Rev.  John  S.  Chandler  (A.  B.  C.F. M.), 
published  in  The  IiiMftiuiatt,  August  17,  1893,  pp.  16,  17. 

'^  The  Sentinel,  March,  1896,  p.  31. 

'  Several  periodicals,  both  in  England  and  America,  are  issued  in  support  of  the 
cause  of  social  purity  and  national  righteousnes  Prominent  among  them  is  Tht 
Sentinel,  published  by  Dyer  Brothers,  Rose  &  i  .et  C-^'ner,  Paterooster  Square, 


%\ 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


147 


We  cannot  dwell  longer  upon  this  subject.     A  careful  scrutiny  of 
almost  every  mission  field  will  discover  signs  of  Christian  influence  in 
the  direction  of  a  higher  morality.     Much  might     ^^^  ^^,^^  ^^^^^  ^ 
be  said  of  the  encouraging  advance  under  the  aus-     univcnat  lymboi  of 
pices  of  missions  in  Jamaica  and  throughout  the    '"'"'7„;'„';„'^':«=  ""* 
Westluiies.  A  missionary  writes  from  the  Levant : 
"  T"..:  ir.cr:;ls  of  the  people  have  been  greatly  improved,  and  it  may  fairly 
be  claimed  that  t:v:  constant  insistence  by  missionaries  and  native 
P;  >ter,lant  pre?xh'  rs  upon  a  pure  morality  has  not  been  without  salutary 
efic't  -'por*  the  non-Mohammedan  communities  of  Turkey." '     From 
China,  Siam,  Burma,  and  the  islands  of   the   Pacific,  similar  testi- 
mony would  be  forthcoming.     "In   Madagascar,"  writes  the  Rev. 
James  Sibree  (L.  M.  S.),  "  immorality  is  certainly  greatly  diminished, 
and  a  purer  family  life  estabhshed."     A  paper  written  by  a  native 
Christian  of  that  island,  on  "  The  Blessings  Received  from  the  Bible 
apart  from  Salvation,"  contains  the  following  sentences :  "  The  Bible 
has  affected  the  former  immoral  habits  of  the  people.     Many  are  now 
living   a  changed  Hfe.      Our  former  ways  of  living  were  shameful 
in  the  extreme ;  nevertheless  they  were  rejoiced  in.     That  state  of 
things  has  undergone  a  complete  change."     Even  in  Africa  a  moral 
tone  has  been  established  in  Christian  communities  which  is  in  striking 
contrast  to  all  heathen  conceptions.     In  the  "  Report  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  for  1897,"  under  the  head  of  Kaffraria, 
is  the  following  significant  statement  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Alex- 
ander Welsh,  concerning  progress  at  Emgwali :    "  The  White   Cross 
Society  has  about  fifty  members  now.     We  hope  it  will  continue  to 
grow  and  do  good  work.     Purity  meetings  have  been  held  at  various 
places  in  the  district."     Surely  there  can  be  no  reasonable  question 
as  to  the  indubitable  trend  of  mission  influence  throughout  the  world 
in  the  direction  of  establishing  higher  standards  of  personal  purity  and 
introducing  the  blessed  leaven  of  social  righteousness  amid  the  detnor- 

London,  where  books  and  tracts  dealing  with  the  problem  of  social  purity  may  be 
obtained.  In  America  the  official  organ  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  known  as  The  Union  Signal,  holds  a  corresponding  position,  and  the  efforts 
of  that  powerful  organization,  having  various  branches  throughout  Christendom  and 
also  in  many  foreign  mission  fields,  are  turned  with  increasing  energy  to  the  subject 
of  social  purity.  International  conferences  at  stated  intervals,  and  an  international 
organization  for  the  abolition  of  State  regulated  vice  are  among  the  instru- 
ments at  work  to  develop  public  sentiment  and  deepen  the  reverence  for  a  purer 
code  of  morals.  Tht  Philanthropist,  the  organ  of  the  American  Purity  Alliance, 
is  devoted  to  the  same  cause. 

I  The  Rev.  J.  K.  Greene,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Constantinople,  Turkey. 


'-  i 


t|J 


l^i^l 


irt 


*I 


1 : ' 


148 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


alizing  laxity  of  heathenism.  To  the  honor  of  Christian  missions  it 
may  be  said  that  not  one  sign  of  compromise  or  unhallowed  license 
characterizes  their  attitude  towards  this  circle  of  loathsome  vices. 
The  highest  and  noblest  standards  of  purity  are  always  advocated 
by  missionaries,  and  to  a  remarkable  extent  are  reflected  in  the  per- 
sonal life  of  native  converts. 


I   ^1 


•  iif 

|i    !  ■ 


1 


ii. 


W  -1: 


5.  Discrediting  Self-Inflicted  Torture  or  Mutilation.— The 

extreme  expedients  of  heathen  asceticism  are  due  to  the  delusive  hope 

of  merit-making,  or  are  the  consequences  of  the 

The  GoBpei  a  meitage   false  conception  that  maceration  of  the  flesh  is  the 

of  lanity  and  peace  to      ,  .  ,       .  _  ...  , 

deluded  mindi.  destruction  of  Sin.  Superstitious  fear  or  the 
frenzy  of  religious  fanaticism  also  accounts  for 
some  of  these  self-inflicted  tortures  and  mutilations.  The  Gospel  is 
the  true  remedy  for  such  strange  and  pitiful  follies,  because  it  teaches 
the  way  of  peace  in  Christ.  It  restores  the  desperate  and  despairing 
victim  of  religious  delusion  to  "  his  right  mind."  Many  who  are  now 
thus  "  sitting  and  clothed  "  were  for  weary  years  struggling  for  hope 
and  comfort  by  means  of  supposed  meritorious  sufferings,  often  self- 
inflicted,  and  sometimes  prolonged  and  severe.  In  times  of  sorrow  and 
fear  the  heathen  are  accustomed  to  give  way  to  inconsolable  grief, 
accompanied  usually  by  frenzied  self-laceration.  The  Gospel  im- 
parts calmness  and  faith,  and  a  trustful  spirit  of  submission  to  the 
Heavenly  Father's  will.  The  contrast  observable  at  Christian  funerals 
conducted  with  decorum,  and  free  from  the  wild  scenes  and  cruel  ex- 
cesses so  characteristic  of  heathenism  under  similar  circumstances, 
is  striking  in  its  exhibition  of  the  power  of  Christianity  to  calm 
and  sustain  the  soul  in  its  hours  of  need.  The  British  Government 
has  put  a  stop  to  some  of  the  worst  of  these  tortures  in  India,  but  the 
spirit  which  prompts  them  cannot  be  banished  by  legal  enactments, 
and  there  are  besides  many  less  notorious  kinds  of  painful  austerities 
not  within  the  range  of  civil  law,  which  only  the  enlightening  wisdom 
and  grace  of  the  Gospel  can  discredit.  Wonderful  illumination  of  the 
mind  and  speedy  change  of  habit  concerning  these  fanatical  cruelties 
follow  th^  entrance  of  missions  into  savage  life.  "We  find,"  writes 
the  Rev.  H.  McKay  (C.  P.  M.),  of  Round  Lake,  Canada,  "that  the 
cruelties  of  self-torture  are  put  away  by  Christian  Indians."  *     No  one 

1  "  Our  native  preachers,  to  the  number  of  sixty  or  more,  denounce  self-torture ; 
Christians  condemn  it;  and  now  even  the  magistrates  are  issuing  proclamations 
against  it.    From  year  to  year,  of  late,  cruel  rites  have  been  forbidden ;  for  example, 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


U0 


who  understands  at  all  the  tone  and  temper  of  Christian  faith  can 
doubt  that  just  here  it  has  healing  and  saving  power. 


6.  Arresting  Pessimistic  and  Suicidal  Tende!.cies.— The  fre- 
quency of  suicide  in  civilized  countries  has  been  the  occasion  for  much 
recent  comment  in  the  public  press.     In  an  article 
on  "  Suicide  and  the  Environment,"  in  The  Popu-  xhe  antisocui  trend  of 
lar  Science  Monthly  (June,  1897),  Mr.  Robert  N.  PcimUm. 

Reeves  states  upon  good  authority  that  since  iSCo 
it  has  increased  in  the  New  England  States  to  the  extent  of  thirty- 
five  per  cent.,  and  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  "  this  percentage,  with 
but  slight  variations,  will  probably  apply  to  all  other  States  of  the 
Union  where  there  is  great  industrial  and  commercial  activity."     In- 
formation derived  from  the  Bureau  oi  Vital  Statistics  in  Washington 
indicates  that  while  the  rate  of  increase  in  population  from  1850  to 
1890  registers  1.70 +  ,  the  increase  in  suicides  in  the  same  period 
registers  7.00  +  .     The  number  reported  in  1850  was  401,  and  3932 
in  1890,  or,  upon  another  basis  of  computation,  the  proportion  in  1850 
was  2.II+-  to  every  100,000  persons,  and  in  iSgoit  was  6.00 -f.*     Still 
later  statistics  give  the  number  of  suicides  in  1896  to  be,  so  far  as 
ascertained,  6520,  being  an  increase  of  761  over  the  record  for  1895. 
Psychologists,  philanthropists,  and  moralists  ha      studied  the  subject 
with  care,  but  apparently  they  can  do  little  to  rem^ay  this  disastrous  in- 
crease in  the  tendency  to  self-destruction.     Where  the  natural  love  of 
life  is  not  sufficient,  nothing  seems  to  act  as  an  effective  detenent,  except 
the  fear  of  God  and  the  conscientious  restraint  of  religion.    Mere  civili- 
zation, if  it  is  godless,  is  of  little  avail  in  checking  it.     Among  all  the 
social  forces  which  act  as  an  antidote  to  suicidal  propensities  there 
seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  most  helpful  preventive  influence  is  a 
pure  and  well-ordered  family  life.2    The  Bible  teaches  that  self-destruc- 


n\ 


..  i 


H 


,M. 


m 


kst  year  (1894)  the  Tamsui  magistrate  forbade  sorcerers  to  afflict  their  persons,  as 
was  the  custom.  Formerly  many  devotees  died  as  the  result  of  self-torture  with 
fire,  knife,  dub,  etc.  Now  there  is  a  very  great  improvement.  As  far  as  Christi- 
anity is  accepted,  the  efficacy  of  self-torture  is  disbelieved,  and  others  besides  Chris- 
tians are  beginning  to  doubt  it."— Rev.  W.  Gauld,  M.A.  (C.  P.  M.),  Tamsui, 
Formosa. 

1  Article  by  Jamei  H.  Taylor,  D.D.,  in  The  Independent,  April  30,  1896. 

»  In  the  article  by  Mr.  Robert  N.  Reeves,  already  referred  to,  statistics  are  given 
which  fully  confirm  this  statement.  "  It  has  been  found,"  he  asserts,  "  that  in  a 
million  of  husbands  without  children  there  were  470  suicides,  and  in  the  same 
number  with  children  there  were  but  205.     Of  a  million  wives  without  children 


4 

)\i 


m 


160 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


's ; 


m 


j  ,  k : 


tion  is  a  sin,  and  in  the  light  of  domestic  and  social  obligations  it  bv- 
comes  also  a  crime,  yet  one  which  it  is  impossible  to  regulate  by  any 
provision  of  the  criminal  code. 

If  amidst  all  the  optimistic  aspects  of  s  ,  lety  in  Christendom  the 

dark  and  awful  refuge  of  suicide  is  so  popular,  it  can  hardly  surprise 

us  that  in  an  environment  of  heathenism  this 

Suicide  a  popular      tragic  expedient  should  be  far  more  frequently 

remedy  for  the  iUa  of         ,  ,        ,^1  ,  ,     ,  ^7  .     . 

heathenism.  adopted.     The  atmosphere  of  the  non-Chnstian 

world  is  strongly  pessimistic.  The  teachings  of 
its  philosophy  and  religion  regarding  the  future  life  encourage  the  ex- 
pectation that  a  further  opportunity,  or  at  least  some  change  which  is 
more  desirable  than  the  present  lot,  is  to  be  found  in  another  state  of 
existence,  while  that  sacredness  which  Christianity  gives  to  life  is  absent. 
Dr.  Faber,  a  learned  scholar  in  Confucianism,  regards  its  doctrines 
and  practices  concerning  woman  as  the  cause  of  the  tendency  among 
Chinese  women  to  commit  suicide.^  The  Rev.  Arthur  H.  Smith  speaks 
of  suicide  among  the  wives  and  daughters  in  China  as  very  common, 
— even  epidemic  at  times,— and  gives  as  a  reason  the  unhappy  status 
of  woman,  especially  in  her  marital  life.  He  describes  the  way  in  which 
young  girls  band  themselves  together  to  seek  self-destruction  rather 
than  consent  to  marriage,  and  remarks  that  "  the  death-roll  of  suicides 
is  the  most  convincing  proof  of  the  woes  endured  by  Chinese  women."  - 
That  Hindu  philosophy  is  pessimistic  is  not  difficult  of  proof.  Its 
doctrine  of  the  Supreme  Being— a  virtual  nonentity,  without  attributes 
of  personality  or  force  of  will— gives  no  cheer 
The  peitimistie  outlook  and  courage  to  faith.     Its  ascetic  view  of  exist- 

of  the  Hindu  and  the  .,?,,.,  ,       .  , 

Buddhist.  ence,  its  dismal  doctrine  of  metempsychosis,  and 

its  hopeless  legalism,  all  cast  the  sombre  shadows 

of  pessimism  far  and  wide.     The  universe  is  gloomy,  life  is  hard  and 

sad,  and  the  future  is  darkened  by  cheerless  mysteries.     If  we  follow 


^i 


157  committed  suicide,  as  against  45  with  children ;  widowers  without  children, 
1004;  with  children,  526;  widows  without  children,  238;  with  children,  but  104. 
These  figures  are  eloquent  pleaders  in  favor  of  family  ties  as  conservators  of  life." 

1  "  The  Memorial  Arches  erected  to  persons  who  have  committed  suicide,  espe- 
cially to  widows,  are  throwing  a  sad  light  on  the  morality  of  a  community  where  such 
crimes  are  necessitated.  Confucianism  is  responsible  for  it  by  the  low  place  it  allows 
to  women,  by  the  wrong  feeling  of  honor  it  awakens  in  men  and  women,  and  by 
the  meagre  religious  consolation  it  can  provide  for  the  afflicted.  Death  is  sought 
as  the  only  escape  from  unbearable  misery."— Article  on  "  Confucianism,"  by  tho 
Rev.  Ernst  Faber,  Dr.  Theol.,  in  "The  China  Mission  Hand-Book"  (1896),  pp.  5,  6. 

2  Smith,  "  The  Natural  History  of  the  Chinese  Boy  and  of  the  Chinese  Girl: 
A  Study  in  Sociology,"  pp.  19,  26. 


Si  li.>.''.  \a:ikiTii; 


I'upiK  in  tin-  \Vomair>  Si  li. 
I'uniN  111  liit)k-   Tr    .iiini;  >< iv>  'i,  N.iiikiny. 


,M.  I'.   M   ^1 


1'  \i  I  ^. 


i 

J'- 
r; 


fl 


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':i. ) 


II* 


J:  in  I 


H  In  i 


Si. 


n 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


151 


the  trail  of  heathenism,  nature-worship,  and  demonology,  into  the 
recesses  of  the  non-Christian  world,  we  find  our  pathway  deeply 
siiadowed  by  the  same  depressing  hopelessness. 

It  can  hardly  be  questioned  by  any  candid  mind  that  the  Gospel, 
when  accepted,  brings  a  flood  of  precious  light  and  a  supply  of  comfort 
and  hope  into  these  dreary  and  saddened  realms  of  pessimism.  What 
the  world  needs  everywhere  is  the  sanity,  courage,  and  cheer  of  Chris- 
tian optimism.  Hope  is  the  antidote  to  despair,  ^nd  a  restraint  upon  the 
hideous  suggestions  of  suicide,  and  this  support  i^  just  what  the  Gospel 
provides  wherever  it  is  received.  In  an  article  on  "  Japan's  Debt  to 
Christianity,"  by  the  Rev.  James  I.  Seder,  of  Tokyo,  he  writes :  "  Chris- 
tianity is  substituting  optimism  for  the  former  pessimism.  The  old 
religious  ideal  was  '  to  leave  the  world  of  suffering '  and  enter  Nirvana, 
or  be  absorbed  into  the  universe  and  practical  nothingness;  the  new 
ideal  is  to  stay  in  the  world  and  help  to  reform  it."  '  In  a  printed  report 
from  a  China  Inland  missionary  in  the  Province  of  Hupeh  occurs  the 
following  significant  statement:  "About  one  hundred  lives  of  would- 
be  suicides  have  been  saved."^  Almost  every  missionary  physician  in 
China  is  frequently  called  upon  to  give  professional  aid  in  the  case  of 
some  one  who  has  attempted  suicide  by  opium,  and  in  many  instances 
the  ministrations  not  only  to  the  body  but  to  the  mind  persuade  the 
victim  to  refrain  from  such  attempts  in  the  future. 

In  an  account  of  the  Mission  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Scotland  in  Old  Calabar,  it  is  stated  that  as  far  back  as  1878  an 
agreement  between  the  British  Consul  and  the 
leading  men  of  the  country  contained  an  article     Suicidal  tendencies 
forbidding    suicide.      Consul    Hopkins   acknow-      native  Chriatians. 
ledged  that  "  such  an  agreement  would  have  been 
impossible  but  for  the  I>  ng-continued  residence  and  teaching  of  mis- 
sionaries." *     Christian  converts  the  world  over  rarely  commit  suicide, 
unless  mentally  unbalanced.     They  live  in  comparative  happiness  and 
comfort,  with  a  glow  of  spiritual  peace  and  hope  brightening  their 
earthly  lot,  with  cheerful  views  of  their  present  existence,  and  a  clear 


1  The  Missionary  Rrcinv  of  the  World,  September,  1895,  p.  656. 

*  China's  Millions,  October,  1892,  p.  133. 

*  Dickie,  "  Story  of  the  Mission  in  Old  Calabar,"  p.  78.  The  article  referred 
to  reads  r.s  follows:  "  Any  persons  taking  the  esere-bean  wilfully,  either  for  tlie 
purpose  of  committing  suicide,  or  for  the  purpose  of  attempting  to  prove  their 
innocence  of  any  crime  ^f  which  they  may  have  been  accused,  shall  be  considered 
guilty  of  attempting  murder,  .md  shall  be  fined  as  heavily  as  their  circumstances 
will  permit,  and  shall  be  banished  from  the  country." 


ilil 


i 


-a 


HV 


i 

1 


Nil!*'.' 


1B2  CHKISTIA.V  MISSJOXS  AXD  SOCIAL  rXOCRESS 

ansurar  •";  of  immortality  in  Christ.  The  Gospel  ministry  of  hope  is 
an  unspeakable  blessing  to  multitudes,  who  without  it  would  remain 
the  victims  of  pessimism. 

7.  Cultivating  Habits  of  Industry  and  Frugality.-  In  the 
case  of  some  Asiatic  peoples,  as,  for  example,  the  Japanese  and  Chinese, 
frugahty  and  industry  are  to  a  marked  degree  natural  traits  of  character. 
The  samurai  among  the  Japanese  and  the  liUrad  among  the  Chinese 
must  be  counted  as  exceptions,  but  as  a  rule  the  masses  do  not  neetl 
to  be  taught  either  the  dignity  and  usefulness  of  labor,  or  the  rewards 
of  frugality.  Economic  conditions,  to  be  sure,  may  have  compelled 
them  thus  to  recognize  the  necessity  of  labor,  and  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  the  notions  which  regulate  the  attitude  of  the  higher  classes  in  both 
countries  to  all  industrial  occupation  would  have  a  far  more  extensive 
following  were  it  possible  for  the  people  as  a  whole  to  avoid  tlie  necessity 
of  toil.  It  is,  after  all,  the  Christian  conception  of  work  which  is 
contesting  sharply  the  theoretical  platform  of  the  two-sworded  and 
long-nailed  gentry  in  these  lands,  and  has  already  mide  considerable 
inroads  upon  the  stability  and  hitherto  undisputed  dignity  of  their 

position. 

The  influence  of  Christianity  in  infusing  a  conscience  into  the  spirit 

of  common  labor,  in  stimulating  and  brightening  daily  toil,  and  in 

imparting  a  sacredne:is  to  the  ordinary  duties  of 

Chrittian  miiiions  ad-   life,  is  a  Worthy  part  of  its  blessed  record  upon 

vocate  and  .timuiate  j^  ^    ^j^^  ^^.     Christian  missionaries  of  Eu- 

honest  industry.  *  11  r 

rope  were  the  pioneers  of  industry  as  well  as  ot 
religion.  It  was  they  who  introduced  the  ideal  of  peaceful  and  indus- 
trious toil  in  settled  homes  as  an  offset  to  the  wild  life  of  adventure 
and  brigandage  which  was  the  ambition  of  early  barbarism.  "The 
ensign  and  emblazonry  of  the  entire  history  of  the  monks  during  those 
early  ages,"  Montalembert  declares  to  be  "  Cruce  et  Aratro."  ■  Chris- 
tianity has  ennobled  toil  and  to  a  large  extent  delivered  it  from  the 
contempt  which  according  to  the  notions  of  the  heathen  seemed  to 

1  Eph.  iv.  28;  I  Thess.  iv.  11,  12;  2  Thess.  iii.  10-12. 

»  Storrs,  "  The  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity,"  pp.  308,  618.  The  following 
quotation  from  Montalembert  is  given  by  Dr.  Storrs  on  page  618:  "  It  seems  to 
me  that  we  should  A\  contemplate  with  emotion,  if  it  still  existed,  that  monk's 
plough  [Theodulph's],  doubly  sacred,  by  religion  and  by  labor,  by  history  and  by 
virtue.  For  myself,  I  feel  that  I  should  kiss  it  as  willingly  as  the  sword  of  Charle- 
magne  or  the  pen  of  Bossuet."-Montalembert,  "  Monks  of  the  West"  (London 
cd.,  1861),  vol.  ii.,  pp.  376-379- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MLSSIONS 


1B3 


be  attached  to  it.'     It  has  steadily  sought  to  be  "  the  moral  regenerator 
of  labor  wherever  it  is,  and  its  moral  founder  wherever  it  is  not."  ' 

A  glance  at  missions  in  the  South  Seas  and  the  African  Conti- 
nent  will  yield  telling  illustrations  of  this.     War,  feasting,  hilarity,  and 
idleness  were  magic  words  with  the  average  native 
of  the  Southern  Isles  early  in  the  present  century.    The  tramflguration  of 

•ni.    <!     .  I  t   \  •     •  ...         work  in  Africa  and  th« 

I  he  first  lesson  of  the  missionary  was  an  mspiration  south  Saai. 

to  better  things.^  Many  of  these  islands  are  now 
under  European,  especially  British,  protection,  while  commercial  as 
well  as  agricultural  industries  are  rapidly  as.suming  importance.  If  we 
ask  why  these  islar.ders  are  such  apt  pupils  in  the  school  of  Western 
civilization,  the  true  answer  will  be,  because  they  have  been  through 
a  long  preparatory  training  at  the  hands  of  the  missionaries,  who  first 
subdued,  reclaimed,  and  instructed  their  savage  natures  so  that  they 
were  ready  for  the  advent  of  Western  methods  and  restraints.  The 
industrial  results  of  missions  in  the  South  Pacific  may  take  rank  as  one 

1  Uhlhorn,  "  The  Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Hfatlicnisni,"  pp.  105,  106. 

*  Warneck,  "  Mrd-'rn  Missions  and  Culture,"  p.  81. 

'  "It  was  in  1818  that  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  ThrelkeW  settled  at  Kaiatea 
[Society  Islands],  under  the  famous  chief  Taiii.itua.  The  inhabitants  welcomed 
them  with  every  demonstration  of  delight,  ami  provided  a  great  feast,  which  included 
five  hogs  for  Mr.  Williams,  five  hogs  for  Mrs.  Williams,  and  five  hogs  for  the  baby! 
With  characteristic  energy  and  practical  common  sense,  Mr.  Williams  devoted  him- 
self to  stimulating  the  people  to  all  kinds  of  good  works.  He  became  '  guide, 
philosopher,  and  friend '  to  them  all.  Apparently  there  was  nothing  he  could  not 
make,  from  a  house  to  a  constitution ;  and  even  the  notorious  indolence  of  the 
Kaiatcans  gave  way  under  his  energetic  leadership.  The  main  settlement  of  natives 
lay  in  an  exposed  position,  which  resulted  in  their  huts  and  crops  being  frequently 
destroyed  by  storms.  Largely  at  Mr.  Williams's  instigation,  there  was  an  '  exodus  ' 
of  the  entire  settlement.  A  new  town  was  formed  in  a  more  healthy  and  sheltered 
position.  Good  houses  were  built,  wells  were  sunk,  a  beautiful  place  of  worship 
erected,  gardens  planned  and  planted,  until  the  whole  place  was  a  monument  to  Mr, 
Williams's  genius  and  industry.  .  .  .  Every  year  the  fruits  of  the  new  religion 
began  to  appear.  The  people  grew  in  industry  and  morality."— Home,  "The 
Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  44. 

"  The  innate  indolence  of  the  natives  has  given  place  to  industrial  pursuits,  and 
in  several  instances  to  the  acquisition  of  industrial  arts.  Many  of  them  have 
become  useful  mechanics.  The  men  are  now  able  to  build  and  furnisli  with  their 
own  hands  comfortable  dwellings,  and  they  are  also  frequently  engaged  for  the 
same  purpose  by  the  white  settlers.  The  women  make  decent  clothing  for  their 
families,  and  all  are  well  clad.  In  the  eastern  islands  the  natives  can  build  small, 
well-constructed  sailing  vessels,  on  good  models,  and  are  able  to  man  and  navigate 
them  themselves.  They  carry  on  trading  operations  with  distant  islands,  and  oc- 
casionally sail  to  South  American  and  other  ports."— "The  Pacific  in  1795  and 
Now,"  by  the  Rev.  S.  Ella,  in  The  Chronicle,  September,  1894,  p.  21a. 


n 


ill 


P  J" 


iv 


■SI 


45 

I'   '1 


154  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  rROCHESS 

of  the  most  unique  social  and  economic  transformations  that  the  world 
has  ever  witnessed.*  In  the  "  Report  of  the  London  Missionary  Society 
for  1891  "  is  the  following  paragraph,  referring  to  the  people  of  the 
llurvey  Islands,  which  had  then  passed  under  British  protection: 
■•  With  growing  intelligence  and  the  increase  of  their  wants  there  has 
been  a  development  of  thrift  and  industry.  They  are  buildmg  one- 
hundred-ton  vessels,  and  are  extensively  engaged  in  plantmg  coffee 
and  cotton."  The  effect  o'  such  institutions  as  those  at  Malua  and 
on  Norfolk  Island  is  to  alter  the  whole  cunent  and  trend  of  native 

ideals.2  , 

A  great  change  is  apparent  in  the  New  Hebrides.     A  correspondent 
of  a  newspaper  of  Auckland  testifies  that  "the  Rarotongans  are  the 

most  advanced  of  all  the  South  Sea  Islanders  m 

The  induitrui        European  industrial  civilization.     They  have  be- 

""""Hrtrwe?*  "**  come  cfTicient  artisans  and  mechanics ;  they  build 

houses  after  the  colonial  type,  also  wagons  and 
boats;  they  work  extensive  plantations  and  cotton.ginning  machines; 
they  are  good  seamen,  valued  for  their  docility,  industry,  and  contented 
i'-. position.  They  cultivate  largely  oranges  and  limes;  of  the  former 
th.'y  export  millions;  from  the  limes  they  express  the  juice  and  ship  it 
in  small  barrels,  some  two  thousand  gallons  yearly  being  sent  away 
from  the  island.     They  also  export  cotton,  coffee,  bananas,  arrowroot, 

1  The  C/nvnUU,  August,  1894,  p.  i«o;  Pepteml.cr,  1894.  p.  21  J. 

2  "  In  1844,  Rev.  Charles  Hardie,  with  Rev.  G.  Turner-who  in  the  previous 
year  had  been  obliged  to  lice  for  his  life  from  the  Island  of  Tanna  in  the  New  I  cb- 
rides-established  a  self-supporting  boarding-school  for  higher  education  at  Malua 
on  the  Island  of  Upolu.     They  purchased  three  hundred  acres  of  land  covered  w.th 
„ild  jungle  and  bordering  on  a  lagoon,  erected  buildings,  and  enrolled  »"<=  hundred 
students,  in  classes  of  twenty-f.vc.  for  a  four  years'  course  of  study.     ^^  ith  the  ...I 
of  the  students  the  land  was  cleare.l  of  brush  and  planted  vrith    ten  thousand  bread- 
fruit  and  cocoanut  trees,  thousands  of  bananas,  and  yams.  taro.  n^*'^*^.  '"j«\'°^'  ""'* 
sugar-cane.  and  a  road  was  made  in  circuit  around  the  tract,  and  shaded  by  the 
cocoanut  palm.'     Hesides  cultiv.-»ting  the  soil  and  catching  fish  from  the  lagoon  the 
students  learned  useful  mechanical  arts.     The  produce  of  the  land  and  the  fish  of  the 
lagoons  supplied  all  their  wants.     In  this  school  pupils  were  received  from  the  New 
Hebrides.  New  Caledonia,  and  Savage  Island,  as  well  as  from  the  Samoa  Islands 
Its  graduates  have  become  the  teachers  of  the  common  schools,  the  pastors  ot 
churches,  and  foreign  missionaries  ;  and  here  over  two  thousand  teachers  .nd  native 
ministers  have  been  trained.     In  the  year  .891  ninetyfive  graduates  were  acting  as 
ordained  pastors  in  the  Samoa  and  other  groups  of  islands.     The  Malua  Institution 
has  been  rated  as  foremost  in  importance  of  the  missionary  agencies  in  Samoa.   - 
Alexander,  "  The  Islands  of  the  Pacific,"  pp.  284.  285. 

Similar  statements  might  be  made  concerning  the  Norfolk  Island  Trainmg  Insti- 
tution.     See  Montgomery,  "  The  Light  of  Melanesia."  p.  15. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


lfi5 


and  copra.  Thus  they  thrive,  anfl  arc  contented  and  happy,  because  free 
and  unoppressed,  and  at  liberty  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  tJieir  labors."  ' 
Would  this  remarkable  statement  be  possible  were  it  not  lor  the  toils 
and  sacrifices  of  missionary  labor  for  so  many  years  in  that  primitive 
environment  of  loathsome  savagery?  "Jehovah's  Arrowroot"  is  the 
watchword  of  a  recent  and  flourishing  industry  in  these  islands,  by 
means  of  which  the  natives  pay  for  the  printing  of  the  Gospels  at 
Melbourne  for  their  own  use.  "  Better  work  than  fighting  "  is  the  new 
rallying-cry.2  jn  the  great  island  of  New  tluinea  the  pioneers  of 
orderiy  living,  the  reclaimers  of  swamps,  the  builders  of  decent  dwell- 
ings and  neat  chapels,  and  the  first  patrons  of  the  modern  arts  of 
hfe,  have  been  the  agents  of  the  London  Missionary  Society. :•  The 
orange  and  coffee  trees  and  the  cotton-plant  were  introduced  in  some 
of  the  South  Sea  Islands  by  the  early  missionaries. 

The  African  lias  learned  the  very  alphabet  of  industry  and  frugality 
from  Christian  missions.     Such  institutions  as  that  of  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland  at  Lovedale,  South  Africa,  not  only 
guide  young  men  and  women  int--^  paths  of  spiritual  *'"""•  "•■»•  »•'."•"'• 

o  ^  e,  r  I  to  the  world  by  miMion 

light,  but  transform  the  life  that  now  is  into  a  training, 

happy  and  useful  career  by  teaching  some  indus- 
trial art  which  makes  them  of  value  to  the  worid,  and  gives  them  the 
privileges  and  joys  of  self-supporting  service.*     No  one  in  the  home 
churches  can  realize,  and  the  missionaries  themselves  hardly  appreciate, 
the  immense  social  changes  in  the  direction  of  orderly  and  useful  living 

I  Quoted  in  Alexander,  "  The  Islands  of  the  Pacific,"  p.  273. 

»  I'aton,  "  Letters  and  Sketches  from  the  New  Hebrides,"  p.  298;  Tkt  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  MvHt/ily,  January,   1895,  p.  1$. 

*  Home,  "  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  410. 

«  Dr.  James  Stewart,  who  is  at  die  head  of  this  noble  enterprise,  thus  refers  to 
the  department  of  industrial  instruction  and  its  scope:  "  Among  a  people  in  bar- 
barism, or  emerging  from  it,  there  is  almost  entire  ignorance  of  the  arts  of  civilised 
life  and  a  certain  indolence,  which  is  often  a  serious  barrier  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
Gospel.  There  is  also  the  danger  of  unsatisfactory  results,  if  all  that  goes  on  under 
the  name  of  education  is  confined  to  a  knowledge  of  books  and  attendance  at 
school  classes.  Knowledge  merely  pufTeth  up,  but  manual  labour  taught  with 
charity  certainly  edifieth  the  individual— in  the  original  sense  of  that  word— as  well 
as  the  African  social  state.  The  following  trades  are  taught— Carpentering,  Wagon- 
making,  Blacksmithing,  Printing,  Kookbinding,  and  even  Telegraphing;  the  latter 
only  to  a  few.  In  addition,  all  who  are  not  indentured  to  these  trades  engage  in 
some  kind  of  manual  work  about  the  place  for  a  certain  number  of  hours  daily,  in 
the  gardens  or  fields,  or  on  the  roads,  and  in  keeping  the  extensive  grounds  in  order. 
A  large  farm  is  also  cultivated  to  supply  food,  and  this  affords  work  in  the  sowing, 
hoeing,  and  reaping  seasons,  as  well  as  at  other  times  during  the  year."—"  Love- 
dale,  Seath  Africa,"  p.  5. 


I'- 


m 


ii» 


1B«  CHUrSTfAX  At/SSlOXS  AXD  SOCIAL  PROGKESS 

which  have  been  inaugurated  in  humlrcds  of  African  communitie*. 
"  The  kraal-going  missionary  has  made  the  kirk-going  people,"  u  the 
(juaint  efiigram  which  describes  the  result  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Missions  in  KafTraria.  This  is  not,  however,  the  whole  truth,  lince 
that  same  missionary  has  turned  the  warrior  into  the  modem  plowman, 
and  put  tools  of  precision  into  idle  hands.  Industrial  missions  and 
also  industrial  features  in  the  curriculum  of  missionary  training  are  no 
longer  an  experiment  in  many  African  fields.  I'lows,  which,  in  the 
dramatic  language  of  a  native  admirer,  are  said  to  "  do  the  work  of  ten 
wives,"  have  broken  i arrows  of  civilization  in  African  society.  Self- 
supporting  industry  ha.;  brought  a  new  consciousness  of  self-respect. 
The  "  eightand-twenty  plows  seen  by  one  visitor  to  Lutuli,"  an  out- 
station  of  the  Scotch  United  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  wilds  of 
KafTraria,  are  not  to  be  passed  over  as  too  insignificant  a  fact  to  be 
noted.!  It  throws  a  bright  light  over  the  earthly  lot  of  many  whose 
lives  were,  not  long  ago,  all  out  of  focus  with  any  true  usefulness  in 

the  world. 

Mr.  Slowan,  in  his  little  \  olume  on  the  Kaffrarian  Mission  writes, 

referring  to  the  missionary:    "He  it  is  who  has  taught  the   Kaffir 

—not  only  by  precept,  but  by  the  far  more  effec- 

.h^c^r^u^nVurrTn  tive  means  of  example-to  value  irrigation  and 

object-UMon  in  million  the  usc  of  tools ;  to  feel  the  need  for  decent  clothes ; 

cconomici.  ^^  ^j^j^j  ^j^^.  ^^^  ^j,j  jj^g  gp^dg  instead  of  the 

iissfsai;  while  in  his  hands  the  mission  station  has  become  an  object- 
lesson  of  industry,  progress,  and  beauty,  which  the  dullest  intelligeiire 
can  apprehend.     Of  two  huts  in  the  same  kraal  you  may  tell,  befora 

»  Slowan,  "  The  Story  of  Our  Kaffrarian  Mission,"  p.  73. 

The  late  Rev.  H.  M.  Bridgman  (.\.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Umzumbe,  Natal,  has  com- 
municated  the  following  interesting  facts  concerning  the  natives  of  that  vicinity : 
•'  They  see  that  among  enlightened  people  it  is  no  disgrace,  even  for  a  man,  to 
work.  All  this  change  has  of  course  necessitated  the  purchase  of  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  '  Hillside  Plows.'  They  now  see  that  in  this  way  they  get 
-.arger  crops.  I  should  say  that  the  plows  are  American,  also  the  thousands  of  imall 
axes.  These  plows  cost  from  sixteen  to  twenty  dollars  each.  We  may  say  that  this 
material  advance  is  largely  the  result  of  the  teaching  of  missionaries,  for  they  first 
taught  the  natives  to  yoke  and  break  in  their  oxen,  and  to  plow." 

The  Rev.  G.  A.  Godduhn  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.).  Gaboon,  West  Africa,  writes  as 
follows :  "  In  our  mission  we  have  never  had  industrial  schools,  but  have  imported 
different  kinds  of  tools,  and  taught  the  natives  to  use  them,  and  showed  them, 
above  all,  that  labor  was  honorable.  When  1  came  to  Batanga  we  could  hardly 
get  men  to  work  for  us,  and  the  few  who  came  were  often  sneered  at  and  ridiculed, 
because  '  they  ioIJ  theif  5kin  for  T7-,.'-.nry,'  that  i^^,  they  worked  for  wages.  During 
the  last  few  years  more  men  were  available  than  we  could  employ." 


&' 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


187 


you  crott  the  threshold,  in  v  fch  the  heathen  Uvei  and  In  which  the 
Christian."  »  Mr.  Joseph  Thomson,  the  African  explorer,  reports  in 
The  Gtographical  Journal  tliat  the  Blantyre  church  (se-  illiisiration 
in  Vol.  I.,  p.  459),  built  uniler  the  direction  of  a  missionary  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  but  by  the  hands  of  native  workmen,  is  "the 
most  wonderful  sight  I  have  seen  in  Africa." »  Hard  by  Nyassaland 
has  been  planted  the  Zambesi  Industrial  Mission,  in  the  Shir6  High- 
lands. The  French  Protestant  Mission  in  Basutoland  has  seven  hun- 
dred  young  men  m  its  normal  and  industrial  schools,  and  counts  as 
one  of  its  triumphs  the  converting  of  the  native  "  from  the  condition 
of  a  loafing  savage  to  that  of  a  laborer." 

The  Livingstonia  Mission  ol  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has 
made  possible  an  industrial  outlook  to  thousands  of  Tonga  laborer: 
who  were  only  a  few  years  ago  dwelling  in  hopeless 
poverty  and  fear,  on  account  of  their  cruel  neigh-      p.thi  of  bonot  toll 

»  '  ov«r  ancient  tralU  of 

bors,  the  Angoni.      Even  the  latter  have  been      blood  and  piundor. 
turned  from  their  trails  ot  blood  and  plunder  to 
the  paths  of  honest  toil.'     Uishop  Tucker,  in  an  account  of  a  visit  to 
Taveta,  situated  in  a  section  of  British  territory  west  of  Mombasa,  at 
some  little  distance  from  the  coast,  gives  a  sketch  of  an  industrial  as 

»  Slowan,  "  The  Story  of  Our  Kaflrarian  Mission,"  p.  97. 

«  In  Mr.  J.  S.  Kiltie's  recent  volume,  he  rcfert  to  this  structure  a*  (olloiva :  "  A 
church  has  nuite  recently  been  crtitcJ  in  llic  heart  of  what  is  still  savage  Africa,  a 
creditable  anil  even  handsome  church  it  is,  with  many  graceful  points  of  architecture. 
It  stands  in  the  Hlantyre  Highlands,  consecrated  by  the  name  of  Livingstone,  near 
the  banks  of  the  Shird  River,  to  the  south  of  lake  Nyassa.  It  is.  a  region  that  foi 
centuries  has  been  deva.^tated  by  slave-raiders  and  native  wars,  a  district  which, 
when  Livingstone  passed  through  it  in  his  sad  last  wanderings,  was  in  a  deplorable 
condition.  For  sonic  years,  however,  that  region  has  been  in  the  hands  of  Scotch 
missionariei  and  Scotch  traders.  Thousands  of  acres  are  under  coffee  plantations, 
and  thousands  more  have  been  taken  up  by  English  planters  to  be  brought  under 
cultivation.  The  natives,  who  a  few  years  a,  1  lived  in  the  wildest  savagery,  come 
hundreds  of  miles  voluntarily  to  beg  for  work  in  these  plantations.  Many  of  them 
have  been  trained  to  various  trades.  Tins  church,  then,  designed  by  a  Scotch  mis- 
sionary, was  built  entirely  by  the  natives  with  free  labour.  He  and  his  colleagues 
taught  the  natives  to  make  bricks,  burn  lime,  and  hew  timber.  Here  there  is  not 
the  least  suspicion  of  compulsion,  and  the  result  is  wonderful."— Keltic,  "The 
I'artition  of  Africa,''  pp.  453,  454. 

'  "  Dr.  Laws  tells  us  that  on  his  journey  up  the  Zambesi  and  Shir*  to  the  lake  he 
saw  traces  of  the  Livingstonia  Mission  from  the  sea-coast  at  Chinde  to  Lake  Nyassa. 
Most  of  the  porterage  on  the  rivers  is  done  by  Tonga  boatmen,  lads  from  the  mis- 
sion schools  being  captains  of  the  boats  and  canoes,  or  employed  in  other  stations 
of  more  or  less  trust  and  usefulness.  The  African  Lakes  Company  employs  no 
fewer  than  1400  Tonga,  while  among  the  other  settlers  aud  pLtutcrs  on  the  Shiri 


.,   « 


11  ii 


li  t 


1.; 


1!'^. 


i! 


H.'f 


ti 


ii 


158  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

well  aF  spiritual  transformation  wrought  by  resident  missionaries,  which 
has  in  it  the  making  of  a  new  race  in  those  African  forests  ^  In  the 
first  rei)ort  on  t  ade  and  labor  m  the  Uganda  Protectorate,  by  Mr. 
Berkeley,  issued  by  the  Foreign  Office  of  Great  Britain  eariy  in  1897, 
the  progress  of  the  Waganda  in  developing  a  spirit  of  industry  is  com- 
mended, and  efforts  are  reported  in  the  direction  of  teaching  new 
employments  and  introducing  improved  methods  in  the  place  of  old 
ones.  It  does  not  appear  in  the  account  to  what  extent  this  progress 
is  due  to  missionaries,  but  the  fact  that  they  have  been  such  an  impor- 
tant element  in  the  opening  of  Uganda  certainly  will  justify  crediting 
a  measure  of  it  to  mission  work.  A  glance  into  the  life  and  services  of 
Alexander  Mackay  will  fully  support  this  inference.  He  speaks  of  his 
own  hard  toil,  sometimes  for  the  purpose  of  earning  his  food,  and  while 
occasionally  lamenting  that  he  could  not  give  more  strength  to  the 
religious  instruction  of  the  people,  he  adds  in  one  of  his  letters  the 
following  significant  sentence :  "  But  somehow  or  other  I  get  a  good 
deal  of  that  [spir'tual  missionary  work]  done  also,  and  in  a  place  like 

Highlands  other  4000  are  employed.  They  have  not  all  come  from  the  Bandawfe 
schools,  nor  are  they  all  even  professing  Christians ;  but  it  is  the  mission  which 
has  made  their  honest  labour  possible.  When  our  missionaries  first  vvent  to  Lake 
Nyassa,  these  Tonga  were  starved  fugitives,  fearfully  inhabiting  rocky  islets  on  the 
lake  shore,  afraid  to  grow  food  or  keep  cattle  lest  they  should  bring  the  dreaded 
.\ngoni  down  upon  them.  He  reports  also  in  the  Shir6  Highlands  many  Angoni 
labourers.  These  men,  who  once  disdained  all  labour  but  that  which  was  involved 
in  killing  their  fellow-men  or  wild  beasts,  are  now  earning  an  honest  livelihood."— 
The  Free  Church  cf  Scotland  Monthly,  Janur.ry,  1895,  p.  14. 

In  u  private  letter  to  the  author,  from  Kondowi,  Livingstonia,  Dr.  Laws,  who 
2f  at  present  connected  with  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Missions  in  British 
Central  Africa,  writes  as  follows :  *'  I  am  at  a  new  place  here,  which  we  hope  to 
occupy  as  a  training  institution  for  native  teachers  and  pastors,  and  also  as  a  tech- 
nical school  for  handicrafts.  A  bit  of  work  on  which  I  have  been  engaged  was  laying 
out  and  making  a  road  to  the  plain  below.  1  had  a  gang  of  men  with  me,  and  the 
majority  of  these  belonged  to  the  Angoni  tribe.  The  last  time  several  of  these 
had  been  in  this  neighborhood  was  on  a  war  foray,  and  now  they  were  help-ng  in 
making  a  road  for  the  use  of  the  people  they  had  formerly  hunted  as  partridges  on 
the  mountains.  Fourteen  years  ago  these  Angoni  refused  to  carry  a  load—'  they 
were  warriors,  not  slaves!  '—work  was  beneath  them.  War  forays  are  rare  among 
them  now,  and  even  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  Gospel  have  to  acknowledge  the 
Word  of  God  as  a  power  in  the  land,  the  censure  of  which  it  is  not  wise  of  them  by 
their  conduct  openly  to  incur." 

1  "  The  name  given  to  it  is  Mahoo,  i.e.,  Happy  Land;  and  to  very  many  young 
men  and  boys  it  is  proving  a  veritable  happy  land.  I  find  that  there  are  now  some 
forty-six  boys  under  Christian  instruction  at  Mahoo;  these  all  live  upon  the  station, 
and  main-.ain  themselves  entirely  by  their  own  labour.     A  certain  proportion  of 


.:!  \ 


i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


169 


this,  where  the  people  are  above  doing  any  labor,  my  example  in  the 
workshop  may  not  be  lost."  A  writer  in  The  Church  Missionary  In- 
telligencer, in  commenting  upon  this  passage,  remarks :  "  Overwork 
is  not  one  of  the  curses  of  uncivilised  races,  and  no  Factory  Acts  or 
Eight  Hours  Bills  are  needed  to  protect  them  from  it.  If  they  are 
to  be  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  true  Christian  life  in  this  world,  they 
must  be  taught  industry  as  well  as  the  other  virtues,  and  the  actual 
practice  of  the  missionaries  is  the  best,  and  often  the  only,  means  of  in- 
culcating  it."  ^ 

The  stations  of  the  Universities'  Mission  to  Central  Africa  are 
scenes  of  industry,  neatness,  and  good  order.     If  we  at  home  could 
only  behold  the  smiling  faces  and  cheerful  de- 
meanor of  the  happy  natives  who  live  in  them,  it    ''5*,°;*/„«j 'j^,",";!""' 
would  add  an  ineffaceable  charm  to  mission  work.  hurti. 

The  Rev.  J.  S.  Wimbush  (U.  M.  C.  A.)  writes  that 
the  object  of  that  missionary  society  is  to  teach  the  African  "  that 
time  and  strength  and  brains  are  God's  gifts,  and  are  given  to  be 
used.     It  insists  upon  the  duty  of  work,  and  then  it  steps  in  and  shows 
him  new  ways  of  using  these  gifts.     It  teaches  him  to  build  with  stone 
instead  of  with  reeds  and  mud ;  it  acquaints  him  with  carpenters'  tools, 
and  instructs  him  how  to  use  them.     Having  taught  him  to  read  and 
write,  it  introduces  printing-presses,  and  teaches  him  to  print  books 
and  magazines  in  his  own  language.     It  sends  out  steamships,  and 
shows    him    how   to   manage   a    steam    engine.     The  Universities' 
Mission  has  in  the  last  two  years  supplied  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  Com- 
missioner  for    British   Nyassaland,  and    his  assistants,  with    native 
printers,  carpenters,  cooks,  and  a  telegraph  clerk,  and  Baron  von 
Eltz,  the  German  Governor,  with  cooks  and  a  carpenter.     The  same 
Mission  has  two  steamships  on  the  Lake,  the  smaller  of  which  is  in 
entire  charge  of  a  native  engineer,  and  the  larger  (sixty-five  feet  long) 
is  worked  by  native  engineers  under  the  direction  of  a  European.     All 
these  have  been  taught  by  the  Mission." 

time  each  day  is  allotted  to  general  education  in  school,  which  each  boy  attends. 
Four  days  a  week,  cultivation,  and  building,  and  manual  labour  of  some  kind  or  other 
for  the  general  good,  are  undertaken  regularly.  Each  boy,  moreover,  has  allotted  to 
him  a  small  garden,  or  ihamba,  some  forty  yards  by  twenty.  The  produce  of  this 
piece  of  land  is  his  own  property,  and  he  is  allowed  one  day  in  the  week  for  culti- 
vating it.  Thus  the  work  of  the  station  is  carried  on,  and  the  whole  made  self-sup- 
porting."—Letter  of  Bishop  Tucker,  in  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  June, 
1895,  p.  4S2. 

»  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  September,  1894,  p.  67a. 


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160  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Industry,  let  it  be  noted  in  this  connection,  is  not  the  natural  bent 
of  an  African's  desire.     His  ideal  is  summed  up  in  idleness,  ques- 
tionable amusemr'nt,  and  war.     It  becomes,  there- 
Th.indu.tri..  triumph,  fore,  no  common  victory  to  turn  him  into  an  eco- 
oi  million!  in  Africa,    nomic  producer,  and  make  him  an  honest  toiler 
among  his  fellows.     This  is  being  done,  however, 
through  missionary  influence,  both  direct  and  indirect,  in  many  sec- 
tions of  the  Continent.!     industrial  features  are,  in  fact,  a  part  of 
almost  all  mission  work  in  Africa.     The  establishment  of  such  plants 
as  are  found,  under  the  direction  of  the  Mission  of  the  Lutheran  Gen- 
eral Synod  of  America,  at  Muhlenberg,  Liberia,  on  the  West  Coast, 
the  Zambesi  Industrial  Mission  on  the  East  Coast,  and  the  missions 
started  by  Bishop  Taylor  in  the  southwestern  sections  of  the  Con- 
tinent, promises  a  practical  betterment  of  the  African,  which  in  its 
import  is  second  only  to  his  growth  in  godliness.^    The  Lutheran 

1  The  Rev.  J.  P.  Farler  (U.  M.  C.  A.)  writes  of  a  visit  to  a  native  Christian 
community,  an  offshoot  of  the  Mbweni  station,  where  a  number  of  converts  had 
founded  a  new  village,  built  their  own  church,  and  opened  an  industrial  centre  on 
their  own  account.     This  is  the  strange  legend  of  Kichelwe,  as  reported  by  Mr. 
Farler :  "  Guided  by  one  of  the  school-boys,  I  took  a  long  walk  through  the  planta- 
tions  and  visited  many  of  the  houses  of  the  people.     I  found  that  natives  from  the 
interior  had  joined  them,  and  also  Mohammedan  SwahiU  from  the  coast,  attracted  by 
the  peace,  order,  and  prosperity  of  this  settlement,  all  submitting  to  Christian  m- 
struction.     They  told  me  that  they  cultivated  fruit  and  vegetables,  and  sold  them  to 
the  Germans  at  Dar-es-Salaam,  and  also  raised  fowls,  getting  good  prices  for  them 
and  their  eggs.     They  assured  me  that  they  were  happy  and  prosperous.     The  Mo- 
hammedans respect  them,  and  the  Germans  are  favourably  disposed  towards  them. 
Now  this  is  a  purely  native  mission,  self-supporting,  and  without  any  English  super- 
vision.    A  priest  visits  them  once  a  month  to  celebrate  the  Holy  Eucharist  for  them. 
This  is  something  very  difiterent  from  the  '  travellers'  tales  '  about  native  converts 
begging  rice  and  food  from  the  whites.     These  people  are  self-supporting  and  self- 
respecting,  desiring  nothing  from  the  mission  but  spiritual  assistance.     Managing 
their  own  affairs,  orderly  and  self-disciplined,  in  their  native  deacon  they  have  a 
minister  of  a  very  high  character,  and  are  guided  by  him.     Perfect  order  is  main- 
tained, while  there  is  absolute  freedom.     I  don't  know  of  anything  that  has  pleased 
me  more  than  this  self-contained  group  of  native  Christians,  drawing  outsiders  mto 
their  community  by  their  own  inherent  qualities,  living  their  own  Christian  lives  and 
asking  no  assistance  from  any  one."— Central  Africa,  October,  1895,  p.  154. 

»  The  Rev.  George  Grenfell  (E.  B.  M.  S.)  writes  from  Bolobo,  on  the  Upper 
Congo,  that  "  missions,  by  means  of  the  technical  training  they  are  furnishing,  and 
by  reason  of  the  habits  of  industry  they  are  inculcating,  are  also  contributing  in  no 
small  measure  to  the  future  development  of  the  people.  It  is  as  important  for  the 
missionary's  chief  purpose  as  it  is  for  the  country  that  habits  of  industry  should  be 
formed.  It  cannot  be  conceived  that  Christianity  should  really  influence  the  heart 
of  the  uncivilised  negro  and  leave  him  content  in  the  midst  of  his  old  circumstances 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


101 


Lcuons  in  domestic 

economy  for 
extravagant  India. 


Mission  Board  above  referred  to  has  established  an  industrial  farm  on 
the  West  Coast  of  Africa,  where  various  trades  and  occupations  are 
taught  to  the  pupils.  In  all,  ten  thousand  acres  are  under  cultiva- 
tion, owned  in  small  holdings  by  about  three  thousand  natives,  every 
one  with  his  own  share  in  the  prosperity  of  the  entire  plant.  Each  family 
lives  in  its  own  home  under  Christian  influence,  and  the  members  of 
the  community  support  church  organizations  with  their  own  earnings.^ 
Along  the  Congo  new  industries  have  been  introduced  by  the  Baptist 
missionaries. 

India,  with  all  its  poverty,  is  in  certain  features  of  its  social  life  a 
land  of  foolish  extravagance  and  ruinous  waste.  Conformity  to  ex- 
pensive customs,  especially  those  incidental  to 
marriages  and  funerals,*  and  general  improvidence, 
is  largely  responsible  for  the  enormous  debts 
which  rest  like  an  incubus  upon  so  many.  Agita- 
tion upon  the  subject  of  marriage  expenses,  with  a  view  to  their  reduc- 
tion, is  now  part  of  the  programme  of  social  reform.  Conferences  and 
conventions  pass  resolutions  condemning  the  needless  prodigality  and 
costly  exactions  incidental  to  these  occasions,  and  urging  efforts  at 
curtailment.^  A  former  Governor  of  Madras  said  upon  this  point : 
"  He  who  could  persuade  his  countrymen  to  give  up  their,  to  us, 
astounding  expenditure  on  marriages  would  do  more  for  South  India 
than  any  government  could  do  in  a  decade."     The  British  Govern- 

— his  old  unclean  and  immoral  surroundings.  Those  who  have  had  experience  of 
mission  work  in  Africa  recognise  how  difficult  it  is  for  church-members  to  maintain 
consistent  lives  unless  the  old  idleness  is  exchanged  for  industrious  pursuits." 

1  "  Report  of  Third  Conference  of  Officers  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards  and  Societies 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,"  i.       "'n  New  York,  February,  1895. 

2  "  I  was  invited  to  the  obsequies  .  a  man  of  some  position  in  the  city  here  a 
few  years  ago,  my  card  of  invitation  bearing  the  serial  number  7000,  an  indication 
of  the  huge  crowds  sometimes  collected  on  the  occasion  of  a  marriage  or  the  cele- 
bration of  the  death  ceremonies  in  a  rich  or  influential  man's  family.  Many  families, 
afraid  to  incur  the  social  stigma  which  would  result  from  the  non-observance  of 
these  ceremonies,  have  had  their  whole  savings  swallowed  up  by  the  expenses  in- 
curred ;  others  have  been  plunged  into  debt  from  which  they  never  recovered ;  and 
many  more  have  been  absolutely  ruined." — Dr.  James  Sommerville  (U.  P.  C. 
S.  M.),  Jodhpore,  Rajputana,  India. 

>  The  resolution  on  this  subject  passed  at  the  National  Social  Conference  of 
1897,  at  Calcutta,  was  as  follows:  "  That  the  Conference  notes  with  pleasure  the 
eflorts  made  by  caste  associations  and  conferences  in  the  North  Provinces  and  the 
Punjab  to  curtail  needless  expenditure  on  marriage  and  other  rites,  and  it  trusts 
that  the  leaders  in  every  caste  will  frame  regulations  on  their  behalf,  and  enforce 
them  strictly  on  all  occasions."— 7>i«  Indian  Social  Ke/intner,  January  17,  1897, 
p.  155. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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ment  can  do  little  in  its  official  capacity  to  regulate  the  matter,  yet 
we  read  in  a  recent  Indian  paper  that  Sir  Dennis  Fitzpatrick,  "an 
astute  and  experienced  administrator,"  is  endeavoring  to  inaugurate 
in  the  Punjab  "  a  social  movement  for  the  reduction  of  the  expenses 
of  the  Hindu  marriage."  The  paper  commends  the  effort,  and  refers 
in  deprecatory  terms  to  the  way  in  which  "  the  earnings  and  savings 
of  a  whole  lifetime  are  frittered  away  on  an  outlay  which,  however 
unreasonable,  the  Hindu  must  make,  and  after  daughters  are  disposed 
of  he  is  left  almost  penniless."  *  The  Government  does  not  propose  to 
legislate,  but  only  to  extend  moral  support  to  such  an  undertaking  on 
the  part  of  the  people.  The  Bengal  Governor,  it  is  stated,  has  taken 
steps  to  follow  the  precedent  established  in  the  Punjab. 

In  other  respects,  especially  by  the  establishment  of  savings-banks, 
the  British  Government  is  seeking  to  encourage  providence  and  fru- 
gality among  the  people  of  India.  No  more  effi- 
Provident  funds  and  cient  efforts  are  made,  however,  in  this  direction 
*i'ndu'n  Chr'stUM."  than  those  which  have  been  inaugurated  under 
missionary  and  native  Christian  auspices.  Such 
organizations  as  the  Madras  Native  Christian  Provident  Fund,  the 
Madras  Native  Christian  Benefit  Fund,  and  its  branches,  the  Bengal 
Christian  Family  Pension  Fund,  the  Palamcotta  Native  Christian 
Benefit  Fund,  and  others,  are  gaining  headway,  and  introducing  a 
wise  economic  policy  into  Christian  communities.  In  some  cases  indi- 
vidual missionaries,  as,  for  example,  Dr.  Mowat  (F.  C.  S.),  of  Jalna, 
are  endeavoring  to  remedy  the  fatal  drift  of  Hindus  into  the  vortex  of 
debt  by  establishing  provident  funds  worked  on  the  cooperative  sys- 
tem.2  In  connection  with  the  Basel  Missions  in  India  and  Africa 
what  is  called  a  Missionary  Commercial  and  Industrial  Society  has 
been  formed,  and  is  doing  a  useful  service.  In  India  a  proposal 
to  form  "  Agricultural  Colonies  "  is  also  under  consideration .^  Ilie 
Christian  Patriot,  a  prominent  native  paper  of  Madras,  has  been  dis- 
cussing the  establishment  of  what  it  calls  Mission  Banks,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  encouraging  thrift  among  native  Christians.  A  lengthy 
editorial  in  the  issue  of  May  7,  1896,  is  based  upon  information  that 
such  a  bank  has  actually  been  established  by  the  Rev.  Bernard  Lucas, 
of  Bellary,  and  is  successful*  An  undertaking  of  this  kind,  however 
well  meant,  involves  some  grave  considerations.  These,  no  doubt, 
will  be  carefully  weighed  by  missionaries  before  assuming  permanently 

1  Progress,  March,  1896,  p.  108.       «  The  Misstonary  Record,  May,  1895,  p.  145. 
»  The  Chronicle,  May,  1895.  p.  136.  *  See  article  on  "  Mission  Banks," 

by  Mr.  Lucas,  in  The  Harvest  Field  (MysoreJ,  May,  1896,  pp.  161-172. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


163 


responsibilities  which  in  the  long  run  can  be  delegated  perhaps  more 
wisely  to  secular  agencies  under  Christian  lay  management. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Jndian  Christian  Association  at  Cawnpore, 
in  December,  1896,  a  significant  feature  was  an  industrial  exhibition 
representing  native  Christian  handiwork  from  all    ,„d„,j,„,  „h,bition. 
parts  of  India.     Widely  scattered  Christian  com-    ,nd  h«rveit  feitwau 
munities  from  the  chief  centres  of  work  were  -««"  ";|,*"'„''a".'""*""* 
participants.    Prizes  were  given,  and  the  excellence 
and  skill  which  were  manifest  commanded  much  admiration.     The 
Bishop  of  Lucknow,  who  presided  over  the  exhibition,  gave  a  powerful 
opening  address  on  "  The  Dignity  of  Labor."  1     Among  the  incidents 
which  excited  much  interest  was  the  success  cA  the  American  Mission  in 
teaching  shorthand  and  the  use  of  the  typewriter  to  Hindu  young  men. 
'  The  Government,"  it  is  stated,  "  and  also  private  firms,  were  ready  to 
employ  all  the  pupils  that  the  mission  school  could  tiun  out,  and  many  of 
them  had  secured  lucrative  appointments."     In  all,  forty-seven  prizes 
and  certificates  were  awarded.     One  of  the  items  of  missionary  news 
from  India,  in  a  recent  number  of  77ie  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Monthly, 
is  an  account,  by  the  Rev.  A.  Andrew,  of  the  Chingleput  district,  of  a 
"  Christian  Harvest  Home."    The  celebration  was  not  merely  a  harvest 
home  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  but  it  was  turned  to  good  use 
as  a  time  of  religious  instruction.   The  addresses  conveyed  to  the  hearers 
lessons  of  spiritual  husbandry,  while  offerings  to  the  Lord  from  the 
products  of  their  toil  were  made  with  much  delight  and  enthusiasm. 
The  narrator  remarks  finally  that  the  occasion  "  proved  conclusively 
that  the  Christians  in  the  new  settlements  had  learned  habits  of  thrift 
and  independence."     Such  harvest  festivals  are  becoming  more  fre- 
quent throughout  the  Christian  communities  in  South  India.2 

1  The  Bishop's  address  is  summarized  as  follows  by  the  Rev.  William  Fenwick 
Walpole,  in  a  communication  published  in  The  Independent,  May  21,  1896:  "  He 
reminded  his  hearers  that  Christianity  had  emancipated  them  from  the  trammels  of 
caste.  The  Brahman  could  not  engage  in  any  trade  he  wished.  He  could  not 
touch  leather,  or  embark  in  paper  manufacture  and  many  other  occupations.  The 
law  for  the  Christian  was, '  What5oner\}ay  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might.' 
The  whole  range  of  industry  was  thrown  open  to  the  man  who  walked  in  the  new 
light.  Indian  traditions  tabooed  work.  Christianity  blessed  and  ennobled  it  to  the 
followers  of  the  Son  of  the  carpenter.  They  should  be  as  ready  to  drive  a  plow  as  to 
drive  a  quill,  to  make  a  desk  as  to  sit  at  one,  to  dig  a  potato  as  to  eat  it.  He  ex- 
horted them  by  integrity  and  thoroughness,  to  force  their  way  to  the  top,  and  to 
so  conduct  themselves  as  to  command  the  respect  of  their  employers  as  well  as  win 
recognition  in  the  market,  where  there  was  always  room  for  the  best  articles." 

»   The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Monthly,  August,  1897,  p.  185. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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Mr.  Wellesley  C.  Bailey,  in  a  published  account  of  his  visit,  early 

in  1887,  to  Ebenezer,  the  chief  station  of  the  Indian  Home  Mission  to 

the  Santals,  situated  in  the  northern  part  of  Bengal, 

Priia  mtdau  for  speaks  of  its  industrial  work  with  enthusiasm, 
miiaion  induitrit*.  After  referring  to  his  tour  of  inspection  to  work- 
shops, brick  and  lime  kilns,  gardens,  printing-press, 
and  book-bindery,  he  informs  us  that  the  boys  and  girls  are  taught  to 
work  in  a  way  which  is  useful,  and  as  they  will  have  to  do,  in  their 
own  villages.*  The  Christians  of  Ebenezer  and  vicinity,  number  all 
told  about  ten  thousand,  and,  in  addition,  a  colony  of  about  seven 
hundred  communicants,  have  emigrated  to  Assam,  where  they  have 
establ'shed  themselves  as  a  Christian  community.-  A  missionary  lady 
in  Inaia,  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  taught  the  manufacture  of  what  is 
known  as  Nagercoil  Lace,  which  has  grown  to  be  an  extensive  industry 
in  the  hands  of  native  Christian  women.  It  has  gained  medals  at  the 
London,  Madras,  and  Paris  exhibitions.  The  profits  of  this  lace  trade 
are  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  female  education,  and  several  schools 
are  thereby  maintained.  The  industrial  plants  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  at  Nazareth,  and  of  the  Wcsleyan  Mission, 
at  Karur,  both  in  South  India,  are  especially  notable  for  their  extent 
and  usefulness.  A  Hindu  village  priest,  as  reported  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Chamberlain,  once  remarked  to  him :  "  Sir,  what  is  it  that  makes  your 
Veda  have  such  an  influence  over  the  lives  of  those  who  embrace  it?  " 
And,  referring  to  the  people  of  his  village  who  had  become  Christians 
within  a  year,  he  remarked :  "  Formerly  they  were  lazy,  and  sometimes 
drank,  lied,  and  cheated,  as  those  around  them  do,  but  see  what  a 
change  it  has  made  in  them— now  they  are  sober,  industrious,  well- 
behaved,  and  thrifty.  Why,  there  is  not  such  a  village  in  all  this 
region."  ^ 

In  Burma  and  Siam  the  economic  influences  of  Christianity  are 

also  working  for  the  betterment  of  social  conditions.     The  Karens  are 

almost  entirely  agriculturists,  and  a  missionary 

No  better  fields  in      writes    Concerning   them:    "The   best-cultivated 

.k"'.^'.*!^.'"  *Ir"  °'    fields  in  this  district  belong  to  Christian  Karens, 

the  Cnriittan  Karens.  *^  ' 

and  they  are  showing  a  commendable  degree  of 
carefulness  in  the  use  of  property.  Among  the  cultivators  of  the 
soil  they  are  least  under  the  power  of  the  money-lender."  *    The  meas- 

1  Bailey,  "  A  Glimpse  at  the  Indian  Mission  Field,"  p.  68. 
«  Ibid.,  p.  68. 

*  "  Report  of  the  Bombay  Conference,  1892,"  vol.  i.,  p.  47. 
«  The  Rev.  \V.  I.  Price  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  Henzada,  Burma. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


165 


ure  of  lelf-support  and  cheerful  independence  in  the  religious  life  of 
the  Sgau-Karens  is  phenomenal.  In  1880,  they  had  raised  $135,000 
in  endowments  for  educational  work,  and  were  supporting  pastors, 
village  schools,  and  some  native  missionaries  of  their  own.  As  long 
ago  as  1875  and  1877  they  sent  one  thousand  rupees  to  famine 
sufferers  in  Toungoo  and  among  the  Telugus.*  A  single  statement 
concerning  the  Laos  population  of  Upper  Siam  will  certify  to  the 
influence  of  missions  in  encouraging  thrifty  ways,  especially  among 
the  Christian  converts.  The  Rev.  W.  C.  Dodd  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.) 
writes  as  follows :  "  We  can  clearly  discover  the  evidences  of  growing 
thrift.  In  the  stations  of  our  mission,  the  natives,  heathen  as  well 
as  Christian,  are  building  better  houses  and  fences,  wearing  nicer 
clothes,  and  using  better  implements  to  do  finer  work.  When  the  late 
Governor  of  Lampoon  was  accused  by  some  of  his  advisers  of  being 
too  pro-foreign  in  his  policy,  he  replied :  '  Yes,  I  am  in  favor  of  the 
coming  of  the  foreigners  [the  missionaries].  You  all  know  what  kind 
of  fences  and  houses  used  to  be  in  Chieng  Mai ;  see  the  difference 
to-day.  What  has  made  it?  The  coming  of  the  foreigners.  Let 
them  come  to  Lampoon ;  soon  you  will  see  the  difference  here  too.' 
He  gave  the  ground  for  a  mission  compound  because  he  was  keen 
enough  to  see  the  sociological  benefits  that  would  result." 

In  the  West  Indies  and  in  sections  of  South  America  a  spirit  of 
thrift  and  a  readiness  to  work  have  been  greatly  stimulated  by  the 
efforts  of  missionaries.     The  African  Negro  in  Jamaica  has  been  made 


I:-  ^ 


»  The  following  statement  concerning  their  subsequent  progress  in  worth  quot- 
ing: "  Since  1880,  under  Mr.  Nichols,  they  have  continued  to  advance.  They  have 
endowed  their  high  school,  '  the  best  in  all  Burma,'  with  about  $50,000;  they  have 
about  425  students  of  both  sexes,  a  fine  printing-office,  and  an  extensive  sawmill 
and  machine-shop.  Both  board  and  tuition  are  free  to  those  who  can  pass  the  ex- 
.iinination.  They  have  enlarged  their  great  Memorial  Hall,  and  built  and  endowed 
a  hospital.  The  discipline  of  the  churches  is  strict ;  their  pastors  are  well  and 
thoroughly  trained ;  their  benevolence  is  maintained  on  a  system  which  reaches  every 
member;  and  in  their  dress,  furniture,  domestic  life,  and  social  condition,  they 
compare  favorably  with  the  country  churches  in  the  United  States."— Bliss,  "  Erc;- 
clopsedia  of  Missions,"  vol.  i.,  p.  48. 

In  a  special  report  on  "  Self-Support  in  Mission  Fields,"  presented  by  the  Rev. 
Henry  F.  Colby,  D.D.,  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union,  in  1895,  striking  facts  are  recorded  regarding  the  remarkable  spirit  of 
liberality  among  the  Burrnans  in  contributing  to  the  support  of  their  Christian  insti- 
tutions. If  any  one  doubts  the  stimulus  which  Christianity  has  given  in  some 
instances  to  the  economic  development  of  the  people  among  whom  it  has  been 
introduced,  let  him  read  this  carefully  prepared  and  elaborate  report  on  the  subject, 
which  will  be  found  in  The  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,  July,  1895,  pp.  199-204. 


MS 


it 


166 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


U    i  • 


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a  better  man  from  an  industrial  and  social  as  well  as  a  religious  stand- 

point  by  the  training  of  Christian  teachers.^     At  the  southernmost 

extremity  of  the  South  American  Continent,  in  the  wild  realms  of 

what  has  been  called  the  "  Land  of  Fire,"  are 

Tribute*  from  ncglietad    ,  ,uc.i.»  m*-- 

Unda  and  races  to  th«   the  missions  of  the  South  American  Missionary 
mattriai  advantagaa    Society,  Under  the  care  of  the  Bishop  of  Falk- 
o  ffi  ■■  ont.  j^^j     Through  the  influence  of  its  Christian  efforts 

social  changes  have  been  brought  about  which  have  been  the  wonder 
of  scientists  and  others  who  have  chanced  to  visit  those  distant  and 
inhospitable  regions.  In  an  article  by  Mr.  Robert  Young,  F.R.S.G.S., 
published  in  The  Mission  World  for  April,  1896,  are  statements  which 
show  conclusively  that  Christian  enterprise  has  carried  into  the  dark- 
ness  of  that  hideous  savagery  a  hope  and  stimulus  for  the  life  that  now 
is,  which  have  produced  a  happy  transformation  in  the  whole  material 
outlook  of  the  population.  Special  reference  is  made  to  the  mission 
established  at  Ushuaia,  Tierra  del  Fuego,  which  has  become  "  a 
well-conducted  Christian  village,  with  cottages  instead  of  wigwams,  a 
church,  a  school-house,  and  an  orphanage."  The  people,  under  the 
instruction  of  Mr.  Bridges,  a  missionary  of  thirty  years'  residence,  are 
spoken  of  as  "  developing  habits  of  industry  in  planting  and  fencing 
gardens,  felling  trees,  sawing  them  into  planks,  building  cottages,  and 
making  roads.  Cattle  and  goats  have  been  introduced.  An  orphanage 
has  been  erected,  of  which  all  the  planking  and  fittings  were  prepared 
on  the  spot."  A  letter  from  Mr.  Lawrence,  who  was  stationed  at 
Ushuaia  in  1894,  as  a  missionary  of  the  South  American  Missionary 
Society,  states  that  "  there  are  daily  demands  upon  us  which  require 
attention,  especially  where  the  industry  of  the  natives  depends  so  much 
upon  the  active  exertions  of  the  missionaries.  The  people  of  Tierra 
del  Fuego  need  teachers  who  can  interest  themselves  in  everything 
that  pertains  to  their  temporal  welfare  as  well  as  spiritual  benefit,  and 
in  every-day  life,  whatever  their  occupation  may  be,  can  lead  them  on, 
by  example,  to  make  the  best  use  of  time."-  Mr.  Bridges,  in  1886, 
obtained  from  the  Argentine  Government  an  extensive  grant  of  land 
along  the  shores  of  Beagle  Channel,  about  thirty  miles  to  the  east  of 
Ushuaia,  with  the  view  of  working  it  as  an  industrial  farm,  which  we 
understand  has  proved  successful. 

From  these  fragmentarj'  and  scattered  references  to  this  interesting 
aspect  of  the  results  of  missions  we  must  now  turn  to  other  themes. 

J  Robson,  "The  Story  of  Our  Jamaica  Mission,"  chap,  ix.,  entitled  "The 
Jamaica  of  To-day:  its  People  and  Social  Progress." 

i<  The  Si/utA  AnuTuati  Missionary  Magaiint,  November,  1894,  p.  165. 


THE  SOCIAL  RtSULTS  OF  M/SSIOXS 


167 


Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  that  could  the  facts  all  be  gathered, 
it  would  be  found  that  missionary  pioneers  have  planted  seeds  of 
industry  and  frugality  in  thousands  of  communities,  which  in  the  future 
will  bear  fruit  in  a  rich  and  beneficent  material  progress. 


8.  Substituting  Christian  Humility  and  Proper  Self-Respect 
FOR  Barbaric  Pride  and  Foolish  Conceit.  — Some  attention  has 
been  given  to  this  subject  in  the  previous  lecture 
(p.  28),  where  the  importance  of  creating  a  new    Tr«ntfonii.tion  of  m 
public  opinion  was  discussed.     Certain  it  is  that         Ati«tie  idMi*. 
humility  and  meekness  are  Christian  rather  than 
heathen  qualities,  and  that  the  enlightening   influences   of   missions 
tend  to  fix  the  true  basis  of  self-respect  as  well  as  dissipate  the  false 
standards  of  ignorance  and  conceit.    As  a  rule,  the  Asiatic  imagination 
is  under  the  spell  of  utteriy  meretricious  ideals  of  greatness,  while  the 
savage  conception  of  what  is  worthy  of  admiration  is  not  only  hideous 
but  evil.     The  very  things  which  make  men  monstrous,  and  hinder  all 
higher  progress,  are  regarded  with  pride  by  barbaric  society.     Heathen 
conceit  is  apt  to  vaunt  itself  in  that  which  in  reality  is  either  foolish  '>r 
shameful.     Christianity  is  a  message  of  sanity  to  the  mind  ;  it  clarifies 
the  mental  vision ;  it  brings  men  into  touch  with  really  great  and  good 
ideals,  and  delivers  them  from  the  power  of  the  false,  degenerate,  and 
demoralizing  notions  of  their  traditional  environment.     It  suggests  a 
humble  heart  as  of  more  value  than  a  big  head. 

Chinese  pride,  usually  so  stolid  and  complacent,  is  feeling  the 
effect  of  some  serious  shocks  in  these  latter  days.  The  outer  bastions 
and  towering  battlements  are  beginning  to  lose  their  monumental  sta- 
bility, although  so  far  it  is  merely  the  military  power  and  the  worldly 
^clat  of  the  empire  that  seem  to  be  in  question.  The  assumption  of 
intellectual  superiority  and  moral  sufficiency  is  hardly  touched  as  yet, 
except  among  Christians  or  others  who  have  been  specially  enlight- 
ened by  contact  with  Western  culture.  The  most  progressive  statesman 
of  China— Li  Hung  Chang— offered  a  prize,  in  the  spring  of  1894,  for 
an  essay  on  "  Reform  in  Religion,"  a  strange  sign  of  the  times  in  Chinese 
contemporary  history.^  China,  when  she  apprehends  the  truth  that 
thare  is  any  need  of  reform  in  her  religion,  will  have  advanced  leagues 
onward  towards  her  higher  destiny.  Hardly  a  man  can  be  found  outside 
the  Christian  communities  who  will  confess  this,  and  true  courage 

»  Cf.  "  China's  Appalling  Need  of  Reform."  by  the  Rev.  T.  Richard,  in   Tlit 
Chintst  Recorder,  November,  1894,  pp.  515-521. 


I J 


iff; 


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1 


168  CHR!ST1AS'  MISSION  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

and  fidelity  are  required  to  teach  the  Chinete  this  unwelcome  troth. 
That  Christian  converts  do  see  it,  and  that  they  have  the  moral  nerve 
to  acknowledge  it,  is  a  mark  o(  special  grace  and  enhgbtenment.» 

In  Japanese  periodicals  are  to  be  found  with  increasing  frequency 
articles  written  by  educated  natives  who  frankly  recognize  that  even 
Japan  has  much  to  learn  intellectually  and  religiously  from  Christian 
sources.  Missions  can  hardly  do  a  more  useful  hcrvice  to  an  alert  and 
progressive  people  like  the  Japanese  than  to  awaken  a  consciousness 
of  moral  and  religious  need,  and  guide  them  to  the  heavenly  wisdom 
which  is  in  Christ.  It  is  only  thus  that  genuine  and  worthy  self-respect 
can  be  nourished  in  place  of  flighty  conceit.  Reasonable  self-esteem 
rather  than  empty  vanity  is  the  secret  of  individual  stability  as  well  as 
of  national  strength. 

In  India  lessons  of  humility  are  hard  to  teach,  and  far  more  diffi- 
cult  to  learn.  Conceit  is  the  very  atmosphere  of  Hinduism ;  pride  is 
the  very  essence  of  the  Moslem  spirit.  The  Hindu 
Soma  invaiuabu  tnsooa  glories  in  the  fact  that  he  is  a  philosopher,  and 
'"  ^MWiT.? »«*••" °°*  that  in  his  caste exclusiveuess  he  is  "not  as  other 
men  "  ;  the  Moslem  prides  himself  upon  the  dignity 
of  his  title  and  the  merit  of  his  practice.  Only  the  Christian  enters 
the  kingdom  cf  his  Master  as  a  little  child.  It  ii.ay  be  said  in  general 
that  everywhere  Christianity  teaches  that  "  except  ye  become  as  little 
children,  ye  shall  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  No  more  helpful 
lesson  than  this  could  be  taught  to  the  proud-hearted  heathen  world. 
"I  am  like  a  child,  knowing  little  and  wanting  to  learn,"  were  the 
words  of  an  Indian  chief  among  the  Kitkatlas,  who  had  become  a 
captive  of  the  cross.*  Humility  is  one  of  the  chief  graces  of  Christian 
experience,  and  while  it  is  in  no  sense  a  blow  at  proper  self-respect, 
yet  it  surely  banishes  once  for  all  the  clamorous  boastfulness  of  heathen 
pride.  It  destroys  also  that]  unteachable  assurance  which  is  such  a 
barrier  to  the  entrance  of  enlightening  and  progressive  ideals. 


9.  Cultivation  of  the  Personal  Virtues.— That  Christianity 
teaches  and  demands  of  its  followers  sincerity,  honesty,  truthfulness, 
and  other  personal  virtues  inculcated  in  the  Moral  Law  of  God,  and 
also  develops  in  the  character  such  graces  as  charity,  meekness,  and 

1  "  Christianity  weakens  that  overweening  pride  and  self-satisfaction  which 
offer  an  effectual  barrier  to  all  progress."-Rev.  Donald  MacGiUivray  (C.  P.  M.), 
Cho-Wang,  China. 

«  Tht  Church  Missionary  GUaiur,  February,  1893. 


THE  SOCIAL  KESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


169 


forbearance,  U  a  timple  truum  which  needs  no  demonstration.  AU  that 
it  called  for,  then,  in  this  connection,  is  some  credible  evidence  that 
Christian  missions  are  introducing  and  '  shing 

among  native  converts  these  graces  v  ,  .  sonal  "^'hu'vuirih*'* 
character,  and  habits  of  correct  living,  to  an  extent  «•»«•»••»•««••  of  miMion 
which  justifies  the  assertion  that  they  are  nurseries  of  •"••w*. 

practical  godliness.  It  does  not  invalidate  the  force  of  this  demonstration 
if  it  proves  to  be,  so  far  as  our  discovery  of  it  is  concerned,  less  perfect 
and  convincing  th^  i  we  could  wish.  We  must  remember  that  Chris- 
tianity allows  an  almost  startling  freedom  to  the  play  of  inclination 
and  will,  and  that  character  even  under  the  culture  of  Christian  influ- 
ences is  in  a  true  sense  a  growth  rather  than  a  ready-made  product. 
It  is  surely  beyond  question  that  the  tendencies  of  Christianity,  when  it 
is  once  received  and  appropriated  by  the  spiritual  nature,  are  to  quicken 
and  nourish  the  personal  virtues  which  the  Word  of  God  both  commends 
and  commands.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  in  so  doing, 
especially  in  mission  fields,  the  Gospel  code  must  contend  with  a  com- 
bination of  dominant  heredity,  adverse  environment,  and  overmastering 
temptation,  which  adds  immensely  to  the  difficulty  of  moral  renovation, 
and  gives  a  peculiar  intensity  to  the  struggle  for  a  renewed  spiritual 
nature.  It  requires  more  Christianity  to  the  square  inch  of  personal 
character— if  the  expression  is  allowable— to  produce  a  given  amount 
of  moral  stamina  where  a  thoroughly  demoralized  heathen  nature  is  to 
be  made  over,  than  where  a  naturally  high-toned  and  responsive  indi- 
viduality is  to  be  brought  into  deeper  accord  with  a  moral  code  already 
perhaps  instinctively  revered,  and  in  large  measure  observed. 

In  Japan  a  new  standard  of  truthfulness  is  identified  with  Christian 
character,  and  this  is  true  also  as  regards  honest  dealing.     Whatever 
may  be  claimed  as  to  the  superior  natural  qualities 
of  the  Japanese,  it  is  frankly  acknowledged  that  *  "'w  "■'»>«  to  truthfuu 
their  Christian  living  is  on  a  much  higher  moral     "" '"j* J'^-'y '» 
plane.      "The  influence  of  Christianity,"  writes 
the  Rev.  Henry  Stout,  D.D.  (Ref.  C.  A.),  of  Nagasaki,  "upon  those 
who   have  accepted   it,  in  such  matters  as  kindness  and  common 
honesty,  is  recognized  and  admitted  by  all  who  know  anything  about 
the  facts,  the  incorrigible  haters  of  Christians  excepted."     In  a  compre- 
hensive  article  on  "  Japan's  Debt  to  Christianity,"  by  the  Rev.  James 
I.  Seder,  of  Tokyo,  this  is  cleariy  specified.     He  says:    "Lying  is 
considered  in  a  different  light      ;n  it  formeriy  was.     Christianity  is  set- 
ting forth  the  high  ideal  of  perfect  truthfulness  and  is  pressing  its  claiins. 
As  an  insunce  of  far-reaching  influence  upon  the  whole  national  life, 


I  Hi'' 


vl 


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170  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

which  shows  that  veracity  and  truth  are  being  sought,  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  some  of  the  best  scholars  of  the  empire  are  engaged  in 
sifting  the  national  history  and  mythology  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
facts.    Truth  is  coming  to  be  valued  and  desired ;  and  although  it  still 
meets  with  great  opposition,  it  will  win  its  way  here  as  elsewhere. 
Another  instance  from  the  humbler  walks  of  commercial  life  may  also 
be  noted.     Said  a  Buddhist  orange-merchant  to  the  writer  recently, 
while  praising  his  oranges :  '  I  don't  lie ;  I  am  a  Christian.'    Although, 
at  the  very  moment  he  spoke,  his  foot  slipped  from  the  path  of  truth, 
as  the  idols  and  shrines  in  and  about  the  house  testified,  yet  the  restrain- 
ing ideal  was  present."  ^     A  striking  and  pathetic  incident  from  an  en- 
tirely different  source  reveals  the  estimate  which  Japanese  military 
officials  entertain   of   the   truthfulness   of   Christians   as  such,  even 
though  found  in  a  distant  island  and  among  enemies.    The  story  of 
the  Christian  martyrs  of  Formosa  at  the  time  of  the  Japanese  invasion 
is  full  of  touching  significance  as  well  as  tragic  sadness.    They  were 
trusted  by  the  Japanese  because  they  were  Christians  and  would  not 
deceive  them;  they  were  martyred  by  the  "Black  Flags"  because 
they  would  not  play  false  to  the  invaders.^ 

That  the  Chinese  have  felt  this  subtile  power  of  the  Gospel  to  beget 

in  the  heart  a  love  for  truthfulness  and  a  respect  for  honesty  is  equally 

capable  of  proof.     "  It  has  been  done  in  hundreds 

The  chrittian  it  worthy  and  thousands  of  cases,"  writes  the  late  Rev.  J.  A. 

"""'chr.*""'"      Leyenberger  (P.   B.   F.  M.  N.),  of  Wei   Hien, 

and  adds,  "  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes  the 

marvelous  change."    The  Rev.  P.  W.  Pitcher  (Ref.  C.  A.),  of  Araoy, 

relates  the  following  incident:  "A  certain  heathen  village  proposed 

1   The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  September,  1895,  p.  656. 

ii  The  Rev.  Thomas  Barclay,  a  missionary  o(  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  Formosa,  has  recently  visited  Moatau,  the  scene  of  the  massacre  of  native 
Christians  by  the  "  Black  Flags,"  just  before  the  Japanese  occupation  of  Taiwanfu. 
The  foUovirig  curious  explanation  of  why  these  Christians  were  executed  is  given 
in  The  Monthly  Messenger:  "  The  hatred  aroused  by  the  Japanese  advance,  and 
(singularly  enough)  the  good  opinion  of  Christian  character  entertained  and  man i- 
fested  by  the  Japanese  generals,  were  responsible  for  the  attack  on  the  Christians 
of  Moatau,  and  for  the  executions  of  those  at  Kagi,  further  to  the  north,  by  the 
Black  Flag  leaders.  The  Japanese,  marching  through  an  unknown  and  difficult 
country, -intersected  by  precipitous  ravines,-were  in  the  habit,  when  they  came  to 
a  village  or  town,  of  enquiring  if  any  Christians  were  in  the  place.  If  so,  they 
seized  them  and  compelled  them  to  act  as  guides,  because,  as  they  said.  Christians 
(ould  be  trusted  not  to  deceive.  For  the  same  reason  the  Pescadores  preacher  was 
taken  on  shore  by  the  Japanese  force  which  held  these  islands,  when  it  landed  to 
cooperate  with  the  army  marching  south  of  Taiwanfu.     The  Black  Flags  were  thus 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


171 


to  raise  a  sum  of  money  for  a  special  object.  When  it  came  to  the 
question,  who  should  hold  the  funds  when  collected,  it  was  unanimously 
agreed  to  place  the  cash  in  the  hands  of  a  church -member,  because,  as 
they  all  said,  'he  is  an  honest  man.'  A  splendid  recognition!"'  In 
the  "Annual  Report  (1894)  of  the  Shensi  Mission  of  the  English  Bap- 
tists," it  is  related  that  at  one  of  their  stations  a  heathen  man  was  asked 
whether  he  saw  any  good  points  about  the  Christians.  "Yes,"  he 
replied,  "there  are  three  things  I  am  bound  to  admire:  (i)  There  is 
no  need  to  watch  our  crops  around  their  village.  (2)  They  neither 
sow,  sell,  nor  swallow  opium.  (3)  They  cause  little  trouble  in  paying 
their  taxes."  *  Here  is  rare  and  downright  honesty  accredited  to 
Chinese  Christians  towards  their  neighbors  and,  what  is  more  remark- 
able, towards  their  Government.  There  is  much  unanimity  in  the  tes- 
timony of  missionaries  as  to  the  sincerity  of  native  Christians  and  their 
steadfastness  in  times  of  trial  and  persecution.  The  cruelties  to  which 
they  are  exposed,  and  the  fearful  weight  of  hatred,  contempt,  and  igno- 
miny which  is  rolled  upon  them,  would  crush  the  spirits  of  any  but 
sincere  and  loyal  believers.' 

In  a  formal  and  elaborate  "  Statement  of  the  Nature,  Work,  and 
Aims  of  Protestant  Missions  in  China,  Laid  before  the  Tsung-li  Yamen 
November  14,  1895,"  with  a  view  to  its  being  presented  to  the 
Emperor  as  an  exposition  of  the  real  intent  and  significance  of  mis- 
sionary enterprise,  the  supreme  aim  of  Christianity  as  the  promoter  of 
virtuous  living  is  insisted  upon  with  much  detail.  Among  its  many 
paragraphs  bearing  upon  this  point  is  the  following :  "  Christians  are 
taught  to  speak  the  truth,  to  deal  justly,  to  love  mercy,  to  be  orderly, 
chaste,  peaceable ;  to  avoid  fraud,  theft,  adultery,  and  all  evil ;  to  seek 
after  and  practise  all  good.  The  object  of  the  religion  they  profess  is 
to  make  them  good  men  and  women,  and  to  prepare  them  in  this  life 

able  to  accuse  the  Christians,  with  a  show  of  truth,  of  assisting  the  foreign  invaders, 
though  this  assistance  was  rendered  only  under  compulsion.  There  is  comfort  in 
the  sorrow,  in  the  two  facts :  that  there  were  no  Christian  defections,  and  that 
Christian  character  stands  high  in  Japanese  opinion.  It  strengthens  the  hope  that 
the  missions  will  be  befriended  by  the  new  Government."—  The  Monthly  Messenger, 
April,  1896,  p.  82. 

1  "  Christianity  is  the  only  power  that  can  cure  lying,  and  it  has  been  done  in 
many  individual  cases.  The  heathen  have  noticed  this  transformation,  and  will 
trust  the  Christians  where  they  will  not  trust  each  other,  even  though  they  despise 
these  very  Christians  for  their  religion."— The  late  Mrs.  C.  W.  Mateer  (P.  B.  F. 
M.  N.),  Tungchow,  China. 

*  Tht  Chinese  Recorder,  March,  1895,  p.  126. 

*  Th*  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  January,  1896,  p.  40. 


Ill 

i 


173  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGXESS 

for  a  better  life  to  come." »  That  this  is  the  real  message  of  Chris- 
tianity to  China  as  a  programme  of  social  righteousness  who  can  doubt? 
And  that  many  sinful  natures  and  disorderiy  lives  are  transformed  seems 
etjually  sure.  On  the  southwestern  borders  of  China,  in  the  interior 
recesses  of  Northern  Siam,  are  the  Laos  people,  among  whom  the 
American  Presbyterians  are  conducting  a  flourishing  and  fruitful 
mission.  Concerning  them  Dr.  J.  W.  McKean  writes  that  "it  is 
freely  and  voluntarily  acknowledged  by  both  princes  and  common 
people  that  the  Laos  Christian  is  honest,  or,  as  they  put  it,  is 
'  honorable.' " 

Let  us  turn  now  to  India,  and  we  find  amid  its  varied  and  teeming 
population  that  there  are  new  moral  currents  in  motion,  not  only  in 
Christian    but    even    in    non-Christian    circles, 
A  new  moral  outlook    which  are  tending  towards  righteousness.    Stan- 
in  India.  dards  are  being  set  up  which,  although  not  strictly 

observed,  are  frankly  recognized.  The  Rev. 
Francis  Ashcroft,  of  Ajmere,  a  United  Presbyterian  missionary  from 
Scotland,  in  a  thoughtful  article  on  "  The  Preparation  for  the  Gospel 
in  India,"  dwells  at  some  length  on  the  influence  of  Chrisrianity  upon 
the  moral  outlook  of  educated  young  men,  and  emphasizes  the  change 
which  is  apparent  not  only  in  their  point  of  view  but  in  their  personal 
attitude  towards  Christian  conceptions  of  God,  of  duty,  and  of  prac- 
tical morality.  "  Uprightness,  purity,  truthfulness,  honor,  almost  the 
whole  ethics  of  Christianity,  with  the  exceptions  [of  some  aspects  of 
religious  ceremonialism]  already  noted,  have  been  accepted  by  the 
young  party  as  universally  binding.  Alas,  that  in  their  own  individual 
experience  they  should  have  so  little  weight!  Still,  it  is  something  to 
have  the  ideals  of  the  Christian  presented  as  those  of  the  Hindu,  and 
vice  and  sin  condemned  by  both."  *  Of  the  natives  who  have  been 
brought  under  Christian  teaching  and  example  a  missionary  writes: 
"  They  are  more  polite  and  refined  in  their  manners,  more  truthful 
in  their  conversation  and  statements,  and  exhibit  in  dealing  with 
others  a  greater  regard  for  uprightness  and  honorable  conduct.  There 
is  a  higher  moral  tone  among  them.  This  is  so  generally  recognized 
that  persons  thus  influenced  are  expected  to  exhibit  a  superior  standard 
of  moral  and  social  life."  ^  "  The  pronounced  and  positive  attitude  of 
Christianity,"  writes  another  missionary,  "  regarding  lying  and  bribery 
has  its  effect  far  and  wide  on  both  converts  and  pagans  who  come  in 

I   The  Chinese  Recorder,  February,  1896,  pp.  68,  69. 
»  The  Missionary  Record,  Aagust,  1894,  p.  223. 
>  The  Rev.  D.  Hutton  (L.  M.  S.),  Mirzapur,  India. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


173 


contact  with  it ;  that  effect,  however,  is  slow,  and  results  are  not  seen 
in  a  short  time."  * 

The  indirect  eflFects  of  Christian  teachings  as  they  ramify  in  unsus- 
pected directions  are  sometimes  more  striking  in  the  evidence  they 
give  of  Christianity's  power  to  propagate  moral  ideals  than  is  the  testi- 
mony which  comes  to  light  in  connection  with  direct  conversion.  In 
a  district  where  the  individual  fruits  of  evangelism  seem  to  be  meagre, 
incidents  are  reported  which  reveal  the  hidden  influence  of  Christian 
morality  among  those  who  are  apparently  untouched  by  its  evangelistic 
appeals.  In  the  case  of  a  group  of  men  called  upon  to  bear  witness 
in  a  court  of  justice  regarding  their  landlord,  it  is  naturally  to  be 
expected  that  their  testimony  would  be  in  his  favor,  since  he  has  the 
power  to  help  or  to  harm  them.  "To  his  utter  astonishment,  their 
statements  tell  against  him,  for  they  have  heard  the  Word  of  God,  and 
their  lips  refuse  to  utter  the  suggested  lie,  although  they  know  that 
this  refusal  will  bring  upon  them  wrath  and  persecution."  Still  an- 
other fact  is  reported  concerning  "  a  little  company  of  shopkeepers  who 
have  banded  themselves  together,  not  to  keep  up  their  prices,  nor  to 
increase  their  gains,  but  to  carry  on  their  trade  without  lying"  - 

In  Mohammedan  lands,  especially  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  not  alone 
among  Moslems  but  also  among  nominal  Christians,  duplicity  and 
dishonesty  are  only  too  common.     One  of  the 
most  brilliant  moral  qualities  that  can  pertain  to    The" Victoria Crou" 
a  man  in  Western  Asia,  giving  him  a  distinction  ofmoraiiintheOritnt. 
as  rare  as  it  is  wonderful,  is  to  be  known  as  truth- 
ful and  honest    The  badge  of  simple  truthfulness  is,  by  general  con- 
sent, the  "  Victoria  Cross  "  of  morals  in  the  Orient.    This  characteristic 
is  recognized  as  belonging  in  a  very  imusual  degree  to  Protestants. 
"  It  is  a  common  saying,"  writes  a  missionary,  "  that  our  converts 
are  more  truthful  than  any  other  class  of  people.     This  truthfulness 
has  its  effect  upon  others  outside,  and,  almost  unconsciously,  a  higher 
standard  of  honesty  is  established."  ^     The  Rev.  Robert  Thomson 
(A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Constantinople,  writes  in  the  same  strain  of  "the 
confidence  reposed  in  Protestants,"  and  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Baird,  of 
Monastir,  declares  that  they  are  "  trusted  more  than  others."     "  It  has 
been  recognized,"  writes  Dr.  Caroline  F.  Hamilton,  of  Aintab,  that 
"  treachery  is  unknown  among  our  Christians."     In  a  land  where  this 
failing  is  so  prevalent  it  is  a  spiritual  triumph  for  Christianity  to  awaken 

1  The  Rev.  L.  L.  Uhl,  Ph.D.  (Luth.  G.  S.),  Gnntur,  India. 

•  The  Church  Missionary  Gleaner,  July,  1895,  p.  99. 

«  The  Rev.  John  A.  Ainslie  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.).  Mosul,  Turkey. 


:-m. 


fit 
I 


174 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


h» 


I      !; 


M- 


i 


in   the  hearts  of  its  followers  a  sense  of  honor  and  a  respect   for 
obligation. 

In  the  case  of  savage  races,  as  in  Africa  and  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  where  human  nature  has  lost  its  moral  fibre,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  the  personal  virtues  can  be  cultivated 
Sfvage  heredity  will     easily  and  rapidly  where  the  very  elements   of 
yield  to  chriitian  grace,  character  must  not  simply  be  renovated  but  re- 
created ;  yet  there  is  much  which  is  beautiful  and 
striking  in  the  ^)ower  of  the  Gospel  to  give  a  new  and  hopeful  bias  to 
the  most  degraded  natures.     If  men  who  during  centuries  of  moral 
stagnation  have  never  hesitated  for  an  instant  to  be  untruthful  and  dis- 
honest, can  be  brought  even  to  a  stage  of  revolt  and  struggle  with  such 
temptations,  a  great  change  will  have  been  produced.     That  every 
native  who  professes  Christianity  becomes  at  once  and  forever  free 
from  moral  lapses  would  be  an  absurd  and  improbable  contention,  but 
that  the   Gospel   exerts   a  wonderful  and  helpful   influence  in   the 
right  direttic  1  is  indubitable,  and  it  is  no  less  certain  that  nothing 
else  can  produce  this  renewed  character.      The  Rev.  H.  D.  Good- 
enough  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Johannesburg,  reports  that  as  the  result  of 
investigations  made  by  himself  among  the  prisoners  in  the  jails  at 
Stanger,  Maritzburg,  and  Durban,  it  was  found  that  out  of  a  total  of 
47  in  Stanger  only  i  could  read  and  write,  and  out  of  a  total  of  i68 
in  Maritzburg  only  lo  were  able  to  read  and  write,  while  at  Durban 
out  of  a  total  of  287  only  32  could  read  and  write.     It  does  not  ap- 
pear that  any  of  those  who  were  educated  to  this  extent  were  Chris- 
tians, but  the  fig'Tes  are  significant  as  indicating  that  the  great  majority 
had  never  been  in  touch  with  mission  influences.     A  further  investiga- 
tion at  Maritzburg,  made  by  the  Rev.  John  Bruce,  a  missionary  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  revealed  the  fact  that,  during  a  period  of  six 
months,  out  of  three  or  four  hundred  pupils  in  his  school  not  one  had 
been  arrested  for  any  misdemeanor.^    The  Rev.  George  A   Wilder 
(A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Gazaland,  East  Africa,  writes:    'In  1892  the  Por- 
tuguese Governor  at  Lorenzo  Marques  apphed  to  the  Swiss  Mission 
for  men  to  send  as  carriers  with  their  Boundary  Commission,  because, 
as  he  said, '  these  are  the  only  natives  we  can  trust  not  to  run  away.'  " 
The  testimony  of  missionaries  in  regard  to  the  moral  renewal  of 
the  personal  character  of  Christians  in  the  South  Seas  is  cumulative, 
and  cannot  be  questioned  by  any  candid  mind.     The  Rev.  WiUiam 
•<'yatt  Gill  may  be  regarded  as  a  representative  witness.     He  writes 


»  The  ChrisHan,  July  a,  1896,  "  Letter  from  South  Africa." 


■•-s 


J ,  'i». 


Tciu  luT-.  «ii  ilio  (iirK"  (  fiitrjl  sthixd.  Antan.inarivo,  i  Mis-^  Itri^t'^i  in  Otu-.t  row,  Mis^  Craven 
ill  niidtllc,  and  Miss  Sihrof  t»ii  ihe  left  in  Ia->t  row. 

Antananarivo  (  ollcne.  'rcqiiisiti  iiril  by  the  IVem  li  a'.r.lioriiiis  • 

(.roup  of  Turorsanil  Collftjj  Stuilenis.     K<v.  James  Sihrei-  on  ilu-  liylit,  Kiv.  A,  \V.  U  il>on  on  ilu-  left.) 

'I'hi:    Km  lis   OK   C'HRisri.\N    Instriition    i\    M ad  \(;.\sc ar.     iL.  M.  S.) 


THF.  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


178 


concerning  the  results  of  mission  work  in  the  Pacific  Islands :  "  The 
abolition  of  hunjan  sacrifices,  war,  cannibalism,  polygamy,  idolatry, 
and  a  crushing  despotism,  is  due  to  Christianity.  The  thief  has  be- 
come honest,  the  immoral  pure  in  life,  the  cruel-hearted  kind." » 

Another  aspect  of  this  subject  is  the  influence  of  Christianity  in 
cultivating  the  physical  virtues  of  cleanliness  and  neatness.      It  is 
universally  acknowledged  that  converts  almost 
invariably  mend  their  ways  by  banishing  unclean-      Outward  neatness  • 
nessboth  from  their  persons  and  their  surroundings.     **'"  "'I'inT.'"*  "•'°' 
There  is  hardly  a  mission  field  where  the  Christians 
cannot  at  once  be  distinguished  from  the  heathen  by  the  attractiveness 
and  wholesomeness  of  their  personal  appearance.     Christian  homes  are 
pervaded  by  an  atmosphere  of  refinement  and  a  simple  charm  of 
orderly  neatness  which  are  unmistakable  to  any  one  who  is  at  all  famil- 
iar with  the  ordinary  domestic  habits  of  the  natives.     Dr.  H.  M.  Lane 
(P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil,  relates  an  incident  illustrating 
this  truth:    "A  rich   planter,  travelling  along  a  country  road  one 
Sunday,  heard  singing  in  a   mud  hut,  a  little  way  from  the  road. 
He  went  in,  and  found  about  twenty  persons,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, singing    Protestant    hymns  and  having   their  regular  Sunday 
worship.     They  were  poor  people,  but  on  inquiry  he  learned  that  they 
were  prospering  on  their  little  farms,  and  were  happy ;  also,  he  noticed 
how  clean  and  orderly  they  were.     All  along  the  rest  of  the  road  he 
found  only  squalid  poverty,  many  intemperate  and  vicious  people,  as 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  meet  in  that  class  of  society.     He  said  to 
the  missionary  whom  he  met  a  few  days  after,  that  if  Protestantism  bred 
virtue,  industry,  and  cleanliness,  such  as  he  had  seen  in  that  little  group, 
he  hoped  it  might  overrun  the  whole  land."  2    That  cleanliness  is  next 
to  godliness  in  the  programme  of  the  Gospel  seems  to  a  remarkable  ex- 
tent to  be  capable  of  visible  demonstration.    "  A  few  weeks  ago,"  writes 
the  Rev.  A.  M.  Cunningham,  of  Peking,  "a  certain  woman,  noted  for 
her  filthiness  and  indecency,  began  attending  the  sessions  of  a  class 
for  Bible  study.     Almost  immediately  an  improvement  was  noticed 
in  her  personal  cleanliness  and  general  appearance."     Of  the  Chinese 
who  arrive  in  San  Francisco,  stolid,  dirty,  and  repulsive,  the  Rev. 

>  Gill,  "  Life  in  the  Southern  Isles,"  p.  16. 

»  "  A  gentleman  who  lived  just  in  front  of  the  meeting-place  of  one  of  our  con- 
gregations  once  told  me  that  he  had  been  watching  the  people  for  several  years  as 
they  came  and  went  to  and  from  their  services,  and  that  he  had  been  particularly 

impressed  by  the  great  improvement  in  their  personal  appearance. "—Rev  J  G  Hall 
CP.  B.  F.  M.  S.),  Ciudad  Victoria,  Mexica 


f-ll- 


^n 


i^l-iil 


it 


11 


U  iJ£  I  ':! 


176  CHRISriAS'  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

I.  M.  Condit  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.)  writes  that  a  happy  change  comet 
over  those  who  can  he  reached  by  the  Gospel.  "  It  is  interesting  to 
see  the  dirt  gradually  disappearing  from  face  and  hands,"  and  neat- 
ness both  in  clothing  and  persons  becoming  habitual  with  those  who 
were  in  these  matters  apparently  incorrigible.*  There  seems  to  be  a 
happy  magic  in  Christianity  to  cleanse  both  within  and  without. 


II.-RESULTS  AFFECTING  FAMILY  LIFE 

The  reconstruction  of  the  family,  next  to  the  regeneration  of 
individual  character,  is  the  most  precious  contribution  of  missions  to 
heathen  society,  and  we  may  add  that  it  is  one  of 
cbriitian  homes  emien-  (he  most  helpful  human  influences  which  can  be 
'oVh.«h*r^oc7«y."    consecrated  to  the  sen-ice  of  social  elevation.    In 
the  effort  to  hallow  and  purify  family  life  we  stir 
the  secret  yearnings  of  fatnerhood  and  motherhood ;  we  enter  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  home,  and  take  childhood  by  the  hand ;  we  restore  to  its 
place  of  power  and  winsomeness  in  the  domestic  circle  the  ministry  of 
womanhood ;  and  at  the  same  time  we  strike  at  some  of  the  most  despica- 
ble evils  and  desolating  wrongs  of  our  fallen  worid.     Nothing  in  the 
history  of  human  society,  except  the  teaching  and  example  of  Jesus 
Christ,  has  wrought  with  such  energy  and  wisdom  in  introducing  saving 
power  into  social  development  as  a  sanctified  home  life.     If  parental 
training  can  be  made  loving,  faithful,  conscientious,  and  helpful,  if  wo- 
manhood can  be  redeemed  and  crowned,  if  childhood  can  be  guided 
in  tenderness  and  wisdom,  if  the  home  crn  be  made  a  place  where  vir- 
tue dwells,  and  moral  goodness  is  nourished  aiid  becomes  strong  and 
brave  for  the  conflicts  of  life,  we  can  conceive  of  no  more  effective  com- 
bination of  invigorating  influences  for  the  rehabilitation  of  fallen  society 
than  will  therein  be  given. 

Let  us  now  inquire  what  Ciristian  missions  have  accomplished  in 
ttansforming  and  purifying  the  conditions  of  family  life  and  mitigating 
the  evils  which  appear  in  its  special  environment. 
'muSTnTuriSn;'  What  have  they  done  for  the  elevation  of  woman, 
and  protecting  th«     the  central  figure  in  the  home,  to  deliver  her  from 
« ..niiy.  ^^  humiliation  and  suffering  incidental  to  those 

great  historic  curses  of  Oriental  society,  polygamy,  concubinage,  adul- 
terous laxity,  and  easy  divorce?     What  have  they  wrought  for  the 
J  ••  Christianity  makes  the  converts  more  cleanly  than  they  were  formerly,  but 
•side  from  this  there  is  no  very  general  change  in  respect  to  food  and  dress.    Of 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


177 


abolishment  of  child  marriage  and  the  alleviation  of  the  social  miseries 
of  widowhood?  What  have  they  effected— not,  let  it  be  noted,  with 
indiscreet  precipitancy,  but  with  wise  caution  and  sobriety— to  secure 
the  release  of  woman  from  the  condition  of  enforced  seclusion  and 
minimum  privilege  which  traditional  custom  in  the  Orient  has  imposed 
upon  her?  What  influence  have  they  exerted  to  better  the  practical 
aspects  of  domestic  life,  to  improve  family  training,  and  to  render  aid 
and  protection  to  helpless  children,  so  often  the  victims  of  cruelty  or 
infanticide  where  no  organized  societies  are  instituted  specially  to  guard 
their  welfare?  Questions  like  these  open  a  broad  field  of  most  inter- 
esting results,  which  it  would  be  delightful  thoroughly  to  explore.  The 
scope  of  the  inquiry  is  so  large  that  it  is  expedient  to  treat  it  in  detail 
under  separate  heads. 


Ill* 


1.  The  Elevation  of  Woman.— A  brief  account  of  the  actual 
condition  of  woman  in  non-Christian  society  has  already  been  given.' 
The  subject  which  concerns  us  here  is  what  missions  have  done  towards 
rescuing  her  from  this  unhappy  lot.  We  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  theme 
in  its  historical  amplitude.  Some  fine  passages  in  the  writings  of  Dr. 
Storrs  may  be  consulted  by  those  who  desire  to  obtain  an  inspiring  view 
of  what  Christianity  accomplished  for  woman  in  the  old  Roman  world 
and  in  medieval  times.-  Christendom,  so  far  as  it  has  been  penetrated 
and  moulded  by  the  spirit  of  Christ,  is  ready  also  with  its  contribution 
of  decisive  testimony ;  and  who  can  doubt  that  womanhood  is  blessed 
and  revered  in  Christian  lands  as  it  is  nowhere  else  in  the  world? 

Turning  now  to  mission  fields,  we  find  abundant  evidence  to  sustain 
our  contention  that  Christianity  is  the  good  angel  of  woman's  life,  and 
the  creator  of  a  new  and  happier  environment  for 

,  '111  ^i.  ....  The  elevation  and  edu- 

her  social  development.    Emphasis  may  be  laid  at  cation  of  woman  a  nota- 
once  upon  the  ennobling  and  refining  influence  of    »>•«  "pect  of  miiaion 
the  Christian  religion  in  the  heart  of  'voman,  and  P'ogreaa. 

its  manifest  elevation  of  her  personality  and  life.  This  result  cannot  be 
questioned  by  any  one  who  has  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  in  East- 
em  lands  the  transformations  in  her  character,  ways  of  living,  and  even 
her  personal  appearance,  wherever  she  has  come  under  the  power  of 

course  the  Christians  are  more  truthful  than  the  heathen,  and  more  faithful  in  all 
the  relations  of  life."— Rev.  Charles  Hartwell  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Foochow,  China. 

>  Vol.  I.,  pp.  103-113. 

•  Storrs,  "The  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity,"  pp.  146-153.  Cf.  also  War- 
neck,  "  Modern  Missions  and  Culture,"  pp.  173,  174. 


\ 


'lit 


178 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Christianity,  moreover,  refines  and  purifies  man't 
estimate  of  woman,  and  insures  to  her  a  measure  of  respect  and  fealty 
of  which  she  can  by  no  means  be  assured  under  any  other  religious  cult. 
The  whole  movement  for  female  education  in  non-Christian  lands 
has  sprung  up  in  connection  with  Christian  missions.  How  true  this  is 
may  be  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  in  India,  among  all  nationalities  and 
sects,  out  of  a  total  of  2,756,135  pupils  under  instruction  in  all  educa- 
tional institutions,  only  162,248  are  girls,  that  is,  about  one  seven- 
teenth of  the  entire  number.  In  the  Christian  community  of  India, 
however,  out  of  a  total  of  95,650  pupils  in  schools,  35,064  are  girls,  or 
over  one  third  of  the  whole.  These  figures  represent  but  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  aggregate  of  Indian  women,  so  small  indeed  is  it  that  we 
may  accept  as  true  the  editorial  statement  of  The  Indian  Social  Jte- 
/oniifr  \.\\dX  "in  the  year  1897  six  out  of  every  thousand  women  in 
India  are  not  illiterate."  >  The  exact  number,  according  to  the  Indian 
census  of  1891,  was  127,726,768  illiterate  females  out  of  a  total  of 
128,467,925  whose  condition  was  ascertained,  leaving— and  the  num- 
ber includes  all  those  under  instruction  in  schools— a  remnant  of  741,- 
157  who  can  either  read  and  write,  or  are  likely  to  do  so  soon.  The 
result,  as  will  be  seen,  is  that  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  women  of 
India  (i.e.,  of  those  represented  in  the  returns)  are  illiterate ;  and  if  we 
consider  those  who  are  twenty-five  years  of  age,  or  over,  the  percentage 
rises  to  ninety-nine  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  illiterates,  which  indicates 
that  female  education  is  almost  confined  to  the  present  generation.' 

1  Cf.  article  on  "  Sixty  Years  of  Social  Progress  "  in  issue  of  June  ao,   1897, 

p.  Zi2- 

-  See  article  on  "  The  Indian  Census  and  Female  Education,"  by  the  Rev.  W. 
Stevenson,  in  The  Missions  ef  the  World,  October,  1894,  pp.  328-331.  Substan- 
tially the  same  statements  are  made  by  Professor  Gokhale,  in  a  paper  on  "  Female 
Education  in  India,"  read  at  the  Education  Congress  of  the  Victorian  Era  Exhibition, 
held  in  London,  July,  1897.  After  a  very  careful  review  of  the  present  status  in 
India,  he  emphasizes  the  fact  that  the  advance  up  to  the  present  time  has  been 
almost  entirely  confined,  so  far  as  girls  are  concerned,  to  the  department  of  primary 
education,  a  fact  which  is  illustrated  in  the  Bombay  Presidency,  where  out  of  more 
than  "  nine  hundred  schools  for  girls  there  are  only  sixty  for  secondary  education, 
and  even  these  are,  for  the  most  part,  European,  Eurasian,  or  Parsi  schools."  He 
gives  in  the  course  of  his  paper  the  following  statistics,  the  significance  of  which 
cannot  be  misunderstood:  "  Even  the  progress  in  primary  education,  which  appears 
so  striking,  marks,  after  all,  only  the  commencement  of  the  great  work  that  in  reality 
lies  before  us.  The  following  figures  will  make  my  meaning  clear.  In  the  Madras 
Presidency,  according  to  the  last  census,  out  of  a  total  female  population  of  20,000,- 
000  only  250,000  can  read  and  write  or  are  under  instruction,  which  gives  a  ratio 
of  I  iu  80.     In  the  Bombay  Presidency  the  figure    are  100,000  out  of  a  total  female 


THE  SOCIAL  KESLLTS  OF  MISSIO.SS 


179 


In  tddit.'on  to  the  foregoing  figures,  there  are  1 2,038,310  femalei  in 
India  concerning  whi)m  no  educational  returns  arc  made— the  total 
female  population,  including  that  of  the  Native  States,  being  140,469,. 
134.  Just  what  proportion  of  this  large  number  not  included  in  the 
statistics  should  be  counted  as  among  illiterates  does  not  appear,  but  it 
seems  probable  that  the  great  majority  should  be  so  ranked.  The  state- 
ment seems  to  be  justified,  therefore,  that,  if  all  the  facts  were  tabu- 
lated, the  number  of  illiterate  women  in  India  would  represent  a  large 
fraction  o\  cr  ninety-nine  per  cent.»  A  further  insight  into  the  im- 
port of  these  facts  may  be  obtained  by  studying  the  distribution  of 
illiteracy  given  by  Mr.  Baines,  the  Census  Commissioner,  which  shows 
that  of  girls  from  five  to  fifteen  years  of  age  only  ninety-three  in  ten 
thousand  are  under  instruction— kss  than  one  in  every  hundred.  Be- 
tw  'n  the  ages  mentioned  is  the  period  whicli  in  all  countries  should 
include  the  maximum  proportion  of  those  who  are  under  instruction. 
In  India  this  is  less  than  ten  in  a  thousand.  The  manifest  inference, 
since  all  girls  there  are  likely  to  be  married  before  fifteen  years  of  age,  is 
that,  only  one  out  of  every  hundred  m.uriages  at  the  present  time  is  with 
a  girl  who  has  received  an  education  and  will  carry  into  her  home  any 
glimmer  of  knowledge.  Another  point  of  view  reveals  the  equally  dismal 
fact  that  during  the  current  year,  out  of  every  fiftt  n  educated  men  who 
marry  in  India  fourteen  of  them  must  take  illiterate  wives,  and  thus  in- 
evitably darken  their  homes  at  the  outset  with  the  shadow  of  ignorance.^ 

Dr.  Bhandarkar,  who  is  said  to  be  the  "  foremost  Sanscrit  scholar 
in  Western  India  at  the  present  day,"  asserts  that  in  ancient  times  In- 
dian women  were  allowed  the  privileges  of  education,  and  that  many 
of  them  were  distinguished  by  their  knowledge  of  Vedic  literature.  In 
fact,  the  position  of  woman,  as  indicated  in  the  earliest  sacred  writings 
of  the  Hindus,  was  far  superior  to  her  present  status.'     That  her  social 

popniation  of  about  13,000,000,  thus  giving  a  ratio  of  i  in  130.  In  Bengal,  out  of 
37,000,000  females,  only  150,000  can  read  and  write  or  are  under  instruction,  which 
means  a  ratio  of  I  in  250.  In  the  Punjab  the  figures  are  35,000  out  of  a  total  of 
11,500,000— a  ratio  of  1  in  330.  In  the  North-West  I'roviuces  we  have  50,000 
females  who  can  read  and  write  or  arc  under  instruct!'  n,  out  of  a  total  of  23,000,- 
000,  which  gives  a  ratio  of  l  in  460.  The  Central  Pr  ,  mces  have  a  fL-niale  popula- 
tion  of  6,500,000,  and  of  these  only  12,000,  i.e.,  i  in  540,  are  attending  schools 
or  can  read  and  write.  Comments  on  these  figuus  are  really  superfluous."— 7/4^ 
Indian  Magazine  and  Rrviriv,  August,  1897,  p.  407. 

'  The  statistics  upon  which  these  estimates  are  based  are  found  in  the  Census 
Report,  and  in  "  The  Statesman's  Year-Book  for  1898,"  pp.  ai,  127. 

*  The  Missions  of  the  World,  October,  1894,  p.  331. 

•  Consult  address  of  Professor  Gokhale,  in  Th,-  Indian  Magazint  and  Review, 
August,  1897,  p.  401.     See  also  ibid,,  April,  1897,  pp.  202-204. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PJtOCRESS 


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condition  ha*  deteriorated  with  the  centuries,  and  is  now  practically 
hopeless  in  an  environment  of  Hinduism,  can  hardly  be  disputed.*  It 
is  equally  clear,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  educated  woman,  who  is 
(ast  winning  her  way  to  a  place  of  dignity  and  power  not  only  in  India 
but  in  all  non-Christian  lands,  is  a  distinctive  product  as  well  as  a  char- 
acteristic trophy  of  missions. 

Much  has  been  done  in  India  for  the  social  advancement  of  woman, 
although  there  is  seemingly  little  in  the  previous  statements  to  justify 
the   assertion.     British  rule,  however,  facilitates 
Vaiuabu  rtiuitt  of     tfioxx.  on  her  behalf,  and  there  are  striking  results 
"Tn'rodtr"'""       to  be  noted,  full  of  high  promise.     Sir  William  W. 
Hunter,  in  an  address  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
National  Indian  Association,  in  1895,  emphasized  "the  great  services 
which  have  been  rendered  by  the  missionary  bodies  towards  female 
education  in  India."     In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  said .  "  You  will 
find  that  almost  all  the  educated  women  of  India  who  have  made  their 
mark  in  our  day  are  native  Christians,  or  were  educated  under  mission- 
ary influence." 2    At  the  same  gathering,  Sir  Charles  H.  Crosthwaite,  a 
former  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  North- West  Provinces,  gave  substan- 
tially the  same  testimony,  when  he  stated :  "  We  have  a  medical  school 
in  Agra,  where  we  train  girls  to  be  assistants  in  hospitals  for  women. 
When  we  first  started  the  class  we  secured  a  few  girls,  Hindu  and 
Mohammedan,  who  had  been  educated ;  but  very  soon  the  supply  was 
exhausted,  and  I  found  that  there  was  hardly  any  one  fit  to  receive 
medical  education  except  those  native  Christian  giris  who  came  from 
mission  schools."'    The  same  statement  was  made  with  much  emphasis 
by  Professor  Gokhale,  in  his  address  at  the  Education  Congress.     Re- 
ferring to  the  Bombay  Presidency,  he  said :  "  The  credit  of  making  the 
first  organized  effort  to  educate  Indian  girls  belongs  to  the  American 
missionary  society  which  opened,  in  1824,  the  first  native  girls'  school 
in  Bombay.  .  .  .  Last  year  there  were  nine  hundred  schools  for  girls, 
with  an  attendance  of  over  eighty  thousand  pupils."     In  regard  to  the 
Madras  Presidency,  he  remarked:  "The  first  attempt  at  providing 
schools  for  native  giris  was  made  in  1841  by  the  missionaries  of  the 

1  "  No  man  eats  with  a  woman,  not  even  with  his  own  wife ;  nor  does  he  accept 
food  that  has  already  been  partaken  of  by  a  woman.  The  wife  brings  the  meal  to  her 
lord ;  he  eats  what  i.e  wants,  and  leaves  the  rest  for  her.  At  first  this  created  an 
embarrassment  at  the  celebration  of  the  Communion,  as  the  men  said  they  could  not 
touch  the  cup  and  eat  the  bread  after  it  had  been  passed  round  among  the  women ; 
but  the  missionaries  refused  to  yield,  and  the  difficulty  has  practically  disappeared 
from  among  us.' -Rev.  James  M.  Macphail  (F.  C.  S),  Chakai,  Santalia.  Bengal. 

»  Tht  Indian  Magazint  and  Review,  June,  1895,  p.  295. 

*  IHd.,  June,  1895,  p.  289. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


181 


Scottish  Church.  .  .  .  Last  year  there  were  in  the  Madras  Presidency 
over  one  thousand  schools,  attended  by  nearly  one  hundred  and  ten 
thousand  girls."  ^  Similar  testimony  could  be  given  for  all  parts  of 
India.     Miss  Cooke  at  Calcutta  was  the  pioneer  in  1822. 

The  famous  despatch  on  education,  issued  in  1854  by  the  British 
Government,  largely  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Dui!,  found  the  work 
of  instruction  under  missionary  auspices  already  inaugurated  through- 
out the  country.-  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  realize  the  import  of  this 
educational  movement  on  behalf  of  women.  Indian  men  look  upon  it 
as  a  radical  upturning  of  their  whole  social  environment,  and  one  to 
which  it  is  almost  impossible  for  them  to  adjust  themselves.  It  appears 
to  them  to  be  as  ominous  as  the  revolutionary  theories  of  anarchists. 
It  seems  like  an  unsettling  of  society,  involving  the  possible  overthrow 
of  religion  itself.  In  the  light  of  this  fact,  however,  we  can  discover  the 
significance  of  the  change  which  is  so  rapidly  taking  place  in  the  whole 
outlook  of  female  education  in  India.  We  cannot  fail,  moreover,  to 
recognize  its  importance  as  an  element  in  social  progress,  since  no  mat- 
ter how  rapid  and  splendid  may  be  the  advancement  which  is  identified 
with  the  education  of  men,  if  the  women  are  still  in  ignorance,  no  per- 
manent improvement  can  take  place.  The  hope  of  any  substantial  ad- 
vantage is  reduced  to  a  minimum  "  if  a  man  when  he  marries  finds 
himself  belonging  to  one  century  and  wedded  to  a  century  far  back."' 
"  Social  reform,"  writes  Dr.  Downie,  of  Nellore,  "  can  never  advance 
until  the  zenana  is  broken  up  and  women  are  educated." 

In  what  has  been  called  the  "  Social  Movement "  in  India  promi- 
nence has  been  given  to  all  that  concerns  the  elevation  of  woman. 
Indian  conferences  and  associations  are  discussing  The  elevation  of  woman 
the  subject  in  all  its  aspects,  with  a  liberality  of   '  prominent  eubject  of 

,  .       „■  ,    .         discussion  In  the  new 

sentiment  and  an  mtelligent  appreciation  of  its    ••  social  Movement" 
important  bearings  upon  the  higher  life  of  society  '°  India, 

which  mark  an  immense  advance  in  native  opinion.  At  the  meeting 
of  the  Indian  National  Social  Conference— not  a  missionary  or  even 

I   Tht  Indian  Magazine  and  Rtvieiv,  August,  1897,  pp.  404,  405. 

*  A  writer  in  a  recent  issue  of  The  Hindu,  a  prominent  non -Christian  paper, 
indicates  ti;at  candid  native  opinion  does  not  hesitate  to  give  due  credit  to  the  mis- 
sionary as  a  pioneer  of  tJucation  in  India.  He  says:  "  It  is  now  becomin;^  the 
fashion  among  our  educated  people  to  cry  down  the  labors  of  Christian  missionaries, 
and  even  to  vilify  them,  but  an  ounce  of  solid  work  is  worth  a  pound  of  windy 
oratory.  Judged  by  this  principle  the  Christian  missionary  must  be  esteemed  to  be 
one  of  the  greatest  benefactors  of  our  country.  While  the  educated  Indian  has  not 
yet  got  beyond  the  talking  stage  in  the  matter  of  female  instruction,  the  Christian 
missionary  has  honeycombed  the  country  with  girls'  schools." 

•  The  Indian  Magazine  and  Xtfirtt',  June,  1895,  p.  297. 


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1S2  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

distinctively  Christian  organization— held  in  Calcutta,  December,  1896, 
a  strong  resolution  was  passed  emphasizing  the  desirability  of  female 
education.*  In  the  address  of  Professor  Gokhale,  before  mentioned, 
the  theme  is  treated  at  length  with  ability  and  enthusiasm,  as  the  follow- 
ing sentences  will  indicate :  "  A  wide  diffusion  of  female  education  in 
all  its  branches  is  a  factor  of  the  highest  value  to  the  true  well-being  of 
every  nation.  In  India  it  assumes  additional  importance  by  reason  of 
the  bondage  of  caste  and  custom  which  tries  x.t-  keep  us  tied  down  to 
certain  fixed  ways  of  life  and  modes  of  thought,  and  which  so  often 
cripples  all  efforts  at  the  most  elementary  reforms.  ...  It  is  obvious 
that,  under  the  circumstances,  a  wide  diffusion  of  education,  with  all 
its  solvent  influences,  among  the  women  of  India,  is  the  only  means  of 
emancipating  their  minds  from  this  degrading  thraldom  to  ideas  inher- 
ited through  a  long  past,  and  that  such  emancipation  will  not  only 
restore  our  women  to  the  honoured  position  which  they  ?X  one  time 
occupied  in  India,  but  will  also  facilitate,  more  than  anything  else,  our 
assimilation  of  those  elements  of  Western  civilisation  without  which  all 
thoughts  of  India's  regeneration  are  mere  idle  dreams,  and  all  attempts 
at  it  foredoomed  to  failure.  The  solution  appears  simple  enough,  and 
yet  no  problem  in  India  is  surrounded  with  gi  eater  difficulties  or 
requires  a  more  delicate  and  patient  handling."  2 

Addresses  in  a  similar  strain  are  now  to  be  heard  at  all  the  numer- 
ous gatherings  of  native  Indians  in  the  interest  of  social  reform.  To 
mention  only  some  of  the  more  recent  examples,  the  late  Mr.  Mano- 
mohun  Ghose,  in  a  paper  on  "  The  Progress  in  Bengal  During  the  Last 
Thirty  Years,"  speaks  of  the  marvelous  change  in  Hindu  opinion  with 
reference  to  the  education  of  women,  and  of  the  great  advance  made 
towards  the  emancipation  of  Indian  women  from  the  bondage  of  igno- 

1  The  resolution  is  as  follows:  "That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference  the 
permanent  progress  of  our  society  is  not  possible  without  a  further  spread  of  female 
education,  and  that  the  best  way  is  (i)  to  proceed  on  national  lints  by  employing  in 
female  schools  female  teachers  of  good  character  and  descended  from  respectable 
Hindu  families ;  (2)  to  establish  training-schools  to  secure  a  sufficient  number  of 
qualified  female  teachers ;  (3)  to  open  home  classes  for  grown-up  ladies  who  cannot 
attend  regular  schools,  with  extra  female  teachers  to  visit  and  help  at  stated  inter- 
vals such  ladies  as  read  at  their  homes ;  (4)  to  employ  a  Pandita  versed  in  Sanscrit 
to  read  passages  from  the  Puranas  and  impart  religious  and  moral  instruction  to 
ladies ;  (5)  to  take  steps  to  publish  text-books  suited  to  the  requirements  of  female 
schools ;  and  (6)  to  impart  instruction  in  needlework,  hygiene,  culinary  art,  domes- 
tic economy,  and  the  training  of  children,  in  secondary  schools. "—  Tht  Indian  Evan- 
gelical Review,  January,  1897,  p.  384. 

»   The  Indian  Magazine  and  Review,  August,  1897,  p.  399. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


183 


ranee.*  Mr.  K.  G.  V.  Aiyer,  B.A.,  of  the  Madras  Christian  College,  in 
a  lecture  before  the  Hindu  Social  Reform  Union  of  Bangalore,  May 
31,1 896,  uses  the  following  language  in  describing  the  purpose  of  so- 
cial reform  efforts  in  behalf  of  female  education.  He  says:  "The 
movement  aims  at  the  elevation  of  woman  to  the  same  level  in  society 
as  man,  so  that  she  may  prove  to  be  his  honorable  companion  and 
efficient  helpmate  in  life.  ...  I  believe  that  all  of  us  here  understand 
full  well  that  by  keeping  our  women  in  darkness  and  ignorance  we  do 
not  help  the  next  generation  to  become  superior  to  us  in  those  qualities 
which  are  necessary  in  the  struggle  for  existence."  2  Mr.  N.  G.  Chan- 
davarkar,  in  a  forcible  and  learned  address  before  the  Madras  Hindu 
Social  Reform  Association,  devotes  a  considerable  portion  to  the 
urgent  need  of  better  educational  facilities  for  women.'  These  ad- 
dresses are  but  specimens,  and  reveal  how  alert  the  educated  mind  of 
India  is  upon  this  special  phase  of  the  social  reform  programme. 

A  strong  representation  of  the  native  press  is  helping  on  this  agita- 
tion by  an  enlightened  and  vigorous  advocacy  of  the  necessity  of  female 
education  as  essential  to  the  higher  civilization  of 
India.  A  few  extracts  from  the  columns  of  The  The  native  press  a 
Hindu,  a  leading  non-Christian  journal,  will  indi-  hfgheVii'«''f'o°r'womIn. 
cate  the  strenuous  and  unequivocal  character  of  the 
views  entertained  on  this  subject :  "  The  community  of  native  Chris- 
tians has  not  only  secured  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  field  of  higher 
education,  but  in  the  instruction  of  their  women,  and  in  availing  them- 
selves of  the  existing  means  for  practical  advancement,  they  are  far 
ahead  of  the  Brahmans.  The  native  Christians  are  a  very  poor  com- 
munity, and  it  does  great  credit  to  them  that  they  so  largely  take  to  in- 
dustrial training.  The  progress  of  education  among  the  girls  of  the 
native  Christian  families,  and  the  absence  of  caste  restrictions  among 
them,  will  eventually  give  them  an  advantage  for  which  no  amount  of 
intellectual  precocity  can  compensate  the  Brahmans.  We  recently  ap- 
proved of  the  statement  of  a  Bombay  writer  that  the  social  eminence 
which  the  Parsis  so  deservedly  enjoy  at  the  present  moment  is  due  to 
these  two  causes,  namely,  that  their  women  are  well  educated,  and  they 
are  bound  by  no  restrictions  of  caste."*  In  another  issue  of  the  same 
paper  is  the  following:  "  If  we  were  wise  in  our  generation  we  would 

'  See  The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  February  23,  1896,  p.  140. 
'  See  Ibid.,  June  7,  1896,  p.  309. 

»  See  the  entire  address  publislied  as  a  Supplement  to  The  Indian  Social  Re. 
former,  Xovemher  29,  1896. 

♦  Quoted  in  The  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,  May,  1894,  p.  126. 


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t       i  I 


184 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Strain  every  nerve  to  sustain  and  accelerate  this  advance  by  realizing 
the  influence  of  woman  in  national  and  social  progress,  and  by  taking 
all  necessary  steps  to  promote  female  education.  The  old  ideal  of 
obedience  is  an  outworn  conception ;  it  is  necessary  to  grant  her  free- 
dom, so  that  she  may  move  with  the  times  and  become  the  companion, 
guide,  and  helpmate  of  man."*  The  Indian  Spectator  remarks:  "  We 
look  to  the  young  men  of  India  to  battle  with  this  evil  arising  from  the 
ignorance  of  woman,  by  insisting  on  the  education  of  their  wives  and 
sisters."  2  These  paragraphs  sufficiently  reveal  the  spirit  and  courage 
with  which  the  progressive  wing  of  the  native  press  is  contending  that 
higher  privileges  and  a  larger  life  shall  be  the  lot  of  Indian  women. 

Now  the  point  which  may  fairly  be  insisted  upon  in  connection  with 

these  evidences  of  a  momentous  change  in   the  public  sentiment  of 

India  upon  the  subject  of  the  elevation  of  woman 

MUsioni  a  dccUive     jg  that  these  new  aspirations  on  her  behalf  have 

factor  In  awakenine  ,      ■,    ,  •  •     •  ,       , 

thcM  new  atpirationa.  resulted  from  the  missionary  movement  for  her 
education.  The  best  thought  of  the  country  is 
throbbing,  perhaps  unconsciously  to  itself,  with  the  quickening  power 
of  this  stimulus.  It  is  at  the  present  time  advocating,  defending,  and 
aggressively  supporting  a  missionary  idea  which  it  has  adopted  as  its 
own.  No  one  who  is  not  famihar  with  the  past  trend  of  Indian 
opinion  can  realize  the  radical  import  of  this  change,  and  the  almost 
insurmountable  difficuhies  which  confront  it.' 

1  Quoted  in  Progrtss  (Madras),  January,  1R96,  p.  79. 

2  Quoted  in  The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  July  12,  1896,  p.  350. 

The  Rev.  W.  A.  Wilson  (C.  P.  M.),  Kutlam,  relates  a  significant  incident,  lie 
says:  "  An  instance  was  lately  brought  to  my  notice  of  a  young  man,  a  student  .it 
college,  who  resisted  the  efTorts  of  his  friends  to  bring  about  his  marriage  in  his  boy- 
hood, and  refused  to  marry  until  he  had  taken  his  degree.  Having  at  last  chosen  a 
young  girl,  he  took  steps  to  have  her  educated  before  marrying  her." 

'  "  When  missionaries  first  attempted  to  commence  work  amongst  the  girls,  it  was 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  they  could  induce  parents  to  allow  them  to  learn. 
Before  this  time,  girls  who  were  intended  for  a  life  of  prostitution  had  received 
some  instruction  in  order  that  they  might  prove  more  attractive  to  their  visitors ; 
hence  education  in  women  was  associated  with  immorality.  In  order  to  overcome 
their  prejudice,  parents  had  to  be  paid  to  allow  their  daughters  to  attend  school. 
Then  the  conservatism  of  the  older  members  of  the  family  most  strongly  opposed 
it,  on  the  ground  that  the  gods  would  be  angry  and  show  their  displeasure  by  re- 
moving the  husbands  of  girls  who  had  been  taught.  Were  the  history  of  the  prog- 
ress of  female  education  in  India  written,  it  would  contain  many  stories  of  schools 
almost  deprived  of  scholars  owing  to  one  of  them  becoming  a  widow,  and  the  old 
women  pointing  to  her  case  as  a  certain  instance  of  the  displeasure  of  the  gods  fall  • 
ing  upon  her  and  her  family  (or  departing  from  their  time-honoured  customs.  But 
i;r.v1ually  this  prejudice  was  destroyed  by  the  quiet  and  persistent  efforts  of  the 


jui  n-^ms'ifimmisi^^. 


THE   SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


185 


mcnt  and  culture  of 
womanhood. 


Turning  now  to  another  phase  of  the  indirect  influence  of  missions 
on  behalf  of  Indian  women,  we  note  the  rapid  increase  of  organiza- 
tions specially  devoted  to  their  welfare.     Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations  are  established  i'n^^SroM^.^"::'.!:" 
at  Calcutta,  Bombay,  and   Madras,  with   many 
smaller  auxiliaries  in  various  places.     This  effort 
was  inaugurated  under  the  auspices  of  the  Worid's  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association.     There  is  at  Bombay  a  Missionary  Settlement 
for  University  Women,  founded  by  Christian  students  of  educational 
institutions  for  women  in  Great  Britain.     There  are  also  native  so- 
cieties, .such  as  "  The  Association  of  the  Daughters  of  India,"  supported 
by  the  Christian  women  of  North  India  with  a  view  to  a  helpful  reli- 
gious and  intellectual  ministry  to  their  less  favored  sisters.   "  The  Union 
for  West  India,"  with  a  membership  of  over  one  hundred,  is  composed 
of  Christian  women,  native  and  foreign.     Hindu  Ladies'  Social  Clubs 
are  found  in  Bombay,  Calcutta,  and  Baranagar.    At  Madras  a  lecture- 
ship for  Indian  ladies  has  been  established,  through  the  good  offires  'A 
Mrs.  Isabel  Brandcr.i     Home  classes  for  native  women  are  contluctcd 
in  different  centres.     It  is  impossible  to  make  wwxc  than  a  fragmentary 
reference  to  these  various  efforts,  but  enough  has  l)een  said  to  show 
that  Indian  society  is  awakening  to  a  more  unfettered  life,  and  that 
unprecedented  proposals  on  behalf  of  larger  liberty  and  higher  advan- 
tages  for  women  are  meeting  with  favor  in  all  directions. 

If  we  inquire  now  what  re.sponse  has  been  made  on  the  part  of 
Indian  girls  to  the  new  educational  opporumities  given  them,  an  inspir- 
ing chapter  is  unfolded.     In  some  instances  the 
graduates  of  mission  schools  hive  passed  university    The  quick  response  of 
examinations,  and  a  few  among  them  have  carried     'new "pportuniUes" 
off  the  honors.     The  first  native  lady  to  take  the 
degree  of  M.A.  in  Bengal  was  Miss  C.  M.  Bose,  a  Christian  convert, 
who  has  since  become  the  principal  of  Bcthune  College,  Calcutta,  the 
only  government  college  for  native  women  in  India,  and  from  which 
candidates  are  now  sent  up  for  university  examinations.     Miss  Cornelia 
Sorabji,  a  member  of  a  native  Christian  family  of  cHstinction  at  Poona, 
achieved  a  brilliant  success  at  the  Deccan  College,  Poona,  and  the 
Bombay  University.    She  subsequently  pursued  a  course  of  legal  educa- 

ladies  of  various  missionary  societies,  until  no«a<la)-  in  a  very  great  number  of  the 
houses  of  the  middle  and  upper  classes  arc  to  l.c  foun.i  th.ise  «1h.  have  been  regu. 
larly  sent  to  school  and  are  able  to  read  and  write  fairly  wcll.'-Wilkins,  "  Mod. 
em  Hinduism,"  pp.  37;,,  374. 

1   The  InJian  Magazine  and  Kevie-.v,  September,  1896,  p.  479. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGKESS 


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tion  in  England,  was  graduated  at  Oxford  with  honor,  and  «•»•  ad- 
mitted to  practise  as  a  barrister,  being  the  first  woman  of  India  to  attain 
that  position.  She  has  recently  dcHvered  lectures  at  Wilson  College, 
Bombay,  on  "  The  Legal  Status  of  Women  in  India,"  and  at  the  Guja- 
rat College  of  Ahmedabad,  on  "  English  Literature  and  Language." 
Miss  Alice  Sorabji,  her  sister,  has  lately  passed  most  creditably  the 
H.Sc.  examination  at  the  Bombay  University,  being  the  first  Indian  lady 
to  take  that  degree.  Miss  Lilavati  Singh,  educated  at  the  Lucknow 
College,  was  one  of  the  first  to  obtain  the  B.A.  degree  from  Calcutta 
University.  Miss  Torn  Dutt,  of  Calcutta,  was  the  first  woman  in 
India  whose  poetry  attracted  the  attention  of  European  critics,  and 
although  she  died  in  Aug.,  1877,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty,  she  had 
won  for  herself  a  place  of  honor  not  only  by  her  Christian  character  but 
on  account  of  her  intellectual  gifts.*  We  reatl  also  of  three  Brahman 
girls  from  the  Maharani's  Girls'  High  School  at  Mysore,  who  have  just 
passed  the  matriculation  examination  at  the  Madras  University.  This 
is  probably  the  first  instance  of  high-caste  Hindu  girls  appearing  for 
public  examination  at  a  modem  university.'-' 

Another  Christian  woman  of  exceptional  gifts  and  fragrant  memory 
was  the  late  Mrs.  S.  Satthianadhan,  of  Madras,  known  as  Krupabai,  the 
first  Indian  woman  to  attain  eminence  as  a  novel- 
The  life-itory  of       >st.     She  was  born  in  i8()2,  a  daughter  of  oue  of 
Krupabai.  the  earliest  Brahman  converts  to  Christianity  in 

the  Bombay  Presidency,  and  was  educated  in  a 
zenana  mission  school.  Subsequently,  as  the  first  Indian  woman  to 
enter  a  medical  school,  she  became  a  student  at  the  Madras  Mrdical 
College,  which  was  the  first  in  India  to  open  its  doors  to  women. 
This  courageous  example  has  now  been  followed  by  many  of  her 
countrywomen  who  have  chosen  a  medical  career.  It  is  diflicult  for  us 
to  realize  what  it  cost  this  brave  young  girl  to  face  the  prejudices  of 
Indian  society  and  begin  a  course  of  medical  study.  She  left  her  home 
in  Bombay,  and  jjroceeded  resolutely  to  Madras,  intent  upon  the  accom- 
plishment of  her  purpo.se,  whatever  hindrances  might  beset  her.  She 
was  kindly  received  into  the  family  of  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Satthianadhan, 
and  began  her  studies  at  the  college.  In  "  Saguna,"  one  of  her  novels, 
slie  has  described  her  reception  when  she  first  entered  the  lecture-hall. 
Her  appearance  was  the  signal  for  enthusiastic  welcome  on  the  part  of 
the  assembled  students,  who  rose  to  their  feet  and  cheered  her  for  her 
courage  and  independence  in  venturing  to  join  their  ranks.     Her  unas- 

1  Chapman,  "  Sketches  of  Some  Distinguished  Indian  Women,"  pp.  91-II3. 

2  The  Indian  Soaul  Kefornur,  March  7,  1897,  p.  206. 


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The  lalc  Mr-.,  .s   >  \  i  i  hi  \n 
'  KrupaSai. 


Sitihiana.lhan  M<>mnria\  Hall    M.ul^a^ 
(In  Mim.iry..!  Mr^   \V    1.  •<aiiliian  i.Miaii 
i  iHtlrvi-lly  (  ..l|i-j;i-.  '<  .  M.  >  i 

C'hki-iiw     I'lurxiioN     (HI     lloi'i     oy    Ki.i,. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


18- 


suming  »nd  gentle  demeanor,  as  well  as  remarkable  scholarship,  won 
for  her  the  respect  and  admiration  of  bc'h  teachers  and  students.' 

Mrs.  Satthianadhan,  although  the  fiist  Indian  woman  to  enter  upon 
the  study  of  medicine,  was  not  the  first  to  uke  the  medical  degree. - 
She  was  obliged  to  give  up  her  :hosen  profession,  as  the  strain  of  its 
duties  proved  too  severe  for  her  physical  strength.  She  was  married, 
in  1883,  to  Professor  S.  Sattliianadhan,  B.A.,  LL.M.,  of  Madras,  an 
educated  gentleman  who  had  taken  his  degree  from  Cambrirlge  Uni- 
versity, and  was  occupying  at  that  time  a  position  in  the  Indian  Gov- 
ernment service.  He  is  now  a  professor  in  the  Presidency  College, 
Madras,  and  the  President  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of 
that  city.  His  wife  was  well  known  as  an  authoress,  and  has  been 
eminently  useful  in  the  sphere  of  philanthropic  ministry.  Her  novels, 
"Saguna"  and  "  Kamala,"  and  also  her  "Miscellaneous  Writings," 
have  been  published  both  in  Madras  and  London.  She  was  an  ajdent 
advocate  of  the  noblest  Christian  ideals  for  Indian  women.  Her  death 
occurred  in  1894,  and,  as  a  fitting  memorial  of  her  life,  a  scholarship 
for  women  in  the  Madras  Medical  College  has  been  instituted,  and  also 
a  medal  in  the  Madras  University  to  be  awarded  to  the  Indian  girl  who 
passes  the  best  matriculation  examination  in  English.  Both  these 
tributes  to  her  memory  were  gifts  from  her  friends. 

Others  might  be  mentioned,  as  the  Fundi  ta  Ramabai,  whose  work 

'  Satthianadhan,  "  Sketches  of  Indian  Christians,"  p.  48. 

*  M.  de  Menant,  in  tlie  XouvelU  K'nue,  jjives  a  very  instructive  account  of 
Anandibai  Joshee,  the  first  Hindu  lady  on  whom  was  conferred  a  medical  degree. 
"  The  daughter  of  a  rich  native  landowner,  this  lady  pioneer  was  born  thirty 
years  ago  [1865]  at  Poona,  and,  like  most  of  her  countrywomen,  was  married  at 
the  age  of  nine  years,  becoming  a  mother  four  years  later.  Through  lack  of  proper 
medical  attendance  her  child  died,  and  it  was  then  that  the  young  girl  made  up  licr 
mind  to  devote  her  life  to  bringing  adequate  medical  aid  to  her  cloistered  country- 
women. Fortunately,  her  husband,  an  intelligent  and  kind  hearted  man,  was  given 
a  government  appointment  in  Calcutta,  and,  once  there,  he  allowed  his  wife  the 
extreme  liberty  of  behaving  like  a  European  woman.  In  1882,  in  spite  of  the 
great  opposition  of  her  family  and  of  her  husband's  friends,  she  made  up  her  min<l 
to  go  and  study  medicine  in  the  United  States.  Before  leaving  India,  she  held  a 
great  public  meeting,  which  was  attended  by  btith  Europeans  and  natives,  and  ex- 
plained her  reasons  for  wishing  to  undertake  what  she  was  about  to  do.  At  the 
Woman's  Medical  College  in  Pennsylvania  she  passed  [1886]  eighth  out  of  forty- 
two  students.  It  is  sad  to  add  that,  after  all  these  trials,  the  valiant  girl  fell 
seriously  ill,  and  was  ordered  back  to  India,  where  she  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  having  conquered  by  her  courageous  action  even  the  most  narrow-minded 
members  of  her  a»le."  -  Progress,  June,  1895,  p.  143.  Cf.  for  a  biographical 
•ketch  of  Dr.  Joshee,  Chapman,  "  Sketches  of  Some  Distinguished  Indian  Women," 
pp.  48-69. 


<  I 


Eittll&i        : 


1H8 


CHRISTIAX  MISSIOXS  Ah'D  SOCTAL  PXOGKESS 


at  Poona  for  widows  anil  famine-suflFerere  is  so  well  known,  and  Mre. 
Hensman,  of  Madras,  sister  of  Professor  S.  Satthianadhan ;  but  these 
typical  examples,  representing  what  Christianity  can  do  for  Indian 
women,  are  sufficient  to  indicate  the  bright  and  seful  career  which  it 
opens  up  to  them.^ 

Training  and  normal  schools  are  preparing  hun  Ireds  of  young  wo- 
men to  enter  the  profession  of  teaching  and  to  retnlrr  valuable  service 
in  promoting  female  education,  a  sphere  of  mission 
Thtgrowincdiitinctioii  ^otV  which  is  SO  soon  to  overtax  the  resources  of 

of  th«  Christian  woman   .  ,^\      -,,•         ■     -.  l       ■     .  t     l 

of  India.  foreign  agencies.      The  Victoria  .School  at  Lahore, 

not  itself  under  missionary  auspices,  has  been  for 
several  years  under  the  direction  of  unmarried  Christian  ladies  of  Indian 
birth,  and  is  a  prophecy  of  what  is  to  come  in  woman's  work  for  woman 
in  India.  In  nine  years  the  attendance  at  this  school  and  its  branches 
has  risen  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  sevtM  hundred  and  fifty. 
"  Everywhere,"  says  TTie  Chunk  Missionary  Inttlligencer,  "  the  same 

1  TAt-  JiiiliiiH  Ciiis/iiin  Mtssitiftr,  a  jironiinent  journal,  publishes,  with  very 
natural  enthusixsm,  the  fullovsing  paratjraph  concerning  the  achievements  of  Indian 
Christian  wuinen  :  "  We  may  with  parUimable  pride  point  to  the  noble  essay  of  the 
girls  of  our  own  community,  evincing  capaliility  to  a  degree  that  marki  them  as 
destined  to  play  an  important  part  in  advancing  our  country.  Who  was  the  first 
Indian  lady  that  gradu.ated  in  arts?  Miss  Chundra  M.  Bose,  a  Christian.  Who  was 
the  first  Indian  lady  that  graduated  in  medicine?  Miss  Mary  Mitter  (now  Mrs. 
Nundy),  a  Christian.  Who  was  the  first  Indian  lady  that  graduated  in  law?  Miss 
Curnelia  Sorabji,  a  Christian.  Who  was  the  first  Indian  lady  that  encompassed  the 
wide,  wide  world,  both  old  ami  new,  in  search  of  knowledge  and  means  for  th 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  millions  of  Indian  widows?  Pundita  Ramabai,  a 
Christian.  Who  are  as  yet  the  only  Indian  ladies  whose  writings  have  earned  the 
approbation  of  F.uropean  critics?  Miss  Tom  Dutt  and  Mrs.  S.  Satthianadhan, 
Christian  ladies.  Who  have  rendered  signal  help  towards  making  an  accomplished 
fact  that  eminently  Cliristian  move.:ient  for  which  millions  of  Indian  females  bless 
the  honored  name  of  Lady  Duflerin?  The  Indian  Christian  girls.  Confining 
ourselves  to  our  own  North-West  Provinces  and  Oudh,  we  may  well  continue: 
Who  was  the  lady  that  first  graduated  as  M.A.?  Miss  S.  Chuckerbutty,  a  Chris- 
tian. Who  was  the  lady  that  attained  a  position  hitherto  unsurpassed  by  any  lady 
candidate  amongst  M.A.  candidates  of  the  Allahabad  University?  Miss  Lilavati 
Kapheal  Singh,  a  Christian.  Who  was  the  first  lady  in  Bengal  that  graduated  in 
two  subjects  with  the  degree  of  M..\.  ?  Mrs.  Nirmala  Shome,  aChristian." — Quote<l 
in  The  Christian  Patriot,  April  l6,  1896. 

It  may  Ix  further  said,  in  the  same  strain,  that  out  of  twenty-three  native  female 
graduates  in  Bengal  thirteen  are  Protestant  Christians,  and  the  only  Indian  lady 
who  edits  an  English  weekly  newspaper  in  Calcutta  is  the  daughter  of  an  illustrious 
native  Christian  of  Bengal.  The  Somafrakas  of  Calcutta,  a  non-Christian  journal, 
exclaims  at  the  conclusion  of  an  editorial  upon  the  above  theme:  "  Lo,  what  a 
marvellous  progress  these  Christians  have  made!     Verily,  their  Lord  is  with  them." 


TH&  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  JIf/SS/OXS 


IM 


Ml 


Ule  U  heard  of  honour  paid  to  Christian  ladies  by  their  nonChriitian 
fellow-countrymen ;  for  this  school  is  only  one  of  many  like  institutions 
under  management  which  is  exclusively  non-Christian,  not  to  say  in 
tome  instances  antichristian,  where  the  dignity  and  true  womanliness 
of  Christian  ladies  inevitably  asserts  itself  too  strongly  to  be  ignored  or 
forced  into  the  shade."*  This,  let  it  be  noted,  is  in  that  very  land 
where  a  generation  or  so  ago,  when  the  first  girls'  school  was  talked  of 
in  Calcutta,  an  astounded  native  remarked :  "  These  missionaries  will 
soon  begin  to  educate  our  cows,  since  tliey  think  it  possible  to  educate 
girls."  s 

The  elevating  influence  of  missions  on  behalf  of  the  women  of  China 
is  as  unmistakable  as  any  evidence  of  the  fact  which  can  be  found  in 
India.     Chinese  women  are  acknowledged  to  be 
capable  and  possessed  of  natural  dignity  of  char-     a  hifh«r  dMtiny  far 
acter,  but  in  the  blighting  environment  in  which       cwmm  wom^n. 
they  have  lived  for  centuries  their  endowments 
have  withered  and  their  life  has  stagnated.     Christianity,  when  its  full 
opportunity  comes,  will  make  a  noble  and  saintly  type  of  womanhood 
in  China,  which  will  be  an  honor  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  an  un- 
told power  in  the  social  development  of  Asia.    Hitherto,  these  Chinese 
women  have,  as  a  rule,  been  so  schooled  in  humiliation,  and  so  con- 
stantly taught  the  lesson  of  their  inferiority,  that  hope  has  died ;  but 
the  woman's  heart  still  lives,  and  the  touch  of  Christ  will  awaken  it  to 
its  higher  destiny.' 


'    TAf  Churth  Missionary  Intelligencer,  August,  1897,  pp.  604,  605. 

'  "  In  point  of  higher  education  the  native  Christian  community  stands  second 
only  to  the  Brahman,  and  in  female  education  no  other  class  of  the  native  popula- 
tion of  India  has  made  such  rapid  progress.  In  this  community  are  to  be  found 
women  who  have  with  great  credit  carried  off  the  highest  academical  distinctions  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Indian  universities,  and  among  them  are  to  be  found  cultured 
and  accomplished  ladies  who  will  be  valued  as  acquisitions  in  any  good  and  polished 
society.  It  is  chiefly  from  the  ranks  of  native  Christians  that  the  Government  has 
.0  get  female  doctors  and  agents  for  the  education  of  the  women  of  India.  In  the 
year  1895-96,  out  of  a  total  of  309  females  undergoing  training  in  normal  schools 
in  the  Madras  Presidency,  240  were  native  Christians."— Satthianadhan,  "  Sketches 
of  Indian  Christians,"  Introduction,  p.  ix. 

'  "  The  theory  of  heathenism  is  that  man  is  everything  and  woman  nothing. 
She  has  no  recognized  civil  rights  as  compared  with  man,  but,  in  the  first  place,  is 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  her  parents,  and  afterwards  of  her  husband.  The  former 
can  dispose  .f  her  as  they  please,  either  to  a  life  of  immorality  or  to  a  man  of  their 
own  choice  as  a  husband.  In  either  case  she  has  no  voice  in  the  matter.  The  latter 
can  divorce  or  sell  her  if  he  chooses,  and  unless  she  has  powerful  relatives  who  may 
oppose,  she  cannot  resist  his  will.     Public  sentiment  and  law  declare  that  she  must 


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Dr.  Martin  relates  how  fie  once  saw  in  a  Chinese  temple,  upon  a 
festal  occasion,  some  two  or  three  thousand  women  reciting  prayers  to 
Buddha.  He  inquired,  "  Why  are  all  the  worshippers  women,  and 
what  are  they  praying  for  ?  "  The  response  was :  "  They  are  praying 
that  they  may  be  born  into  the  world  as  men,  so  inferior  are  they  taught 
to  consider  their  present  condition."  That  they  have  elements  of  per- 
sonal and  social  value  is  recognized  by  Dr.  Martin,  when  he  further  re- 
marks: "Morally,  however,  they  are  China's  better  half— modest, 
graceful,  and  attractive.  Intellectually,  they  are  not  stupid,  but  igno- 
rant, left  to  grow  up  in  a  kind  of  twilight,  without  the  benefit  of  schools. 
What  they  are  capable  of  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of 
disadvantages,  many  of  them  are  found  on  the  roll  of  honor  as  poets, 
historians,  and  rulers.  Some  of  the  brightest  minds  I  ever  met  in 
China  were  those  of  girls  in  our  mission  schools."  ^  The  kev.  Arthur  H. 
Smith,  D.D.,  confirms  this  opinion  in  the  following  statement:  "The 
women  are  seen  to  be  able  to  learn,  often  faster  than  the  men.  This 
compels  respect  in  a  land  where  learning  is  so  valued."  It  is  a  prom- 
ising fact  that  schools  for  girls  and  classes  for  women  are  becoming 
popular  in  China,  and  are  winning  recognition  with  less  distrust  and 
friction  than  in  some  other  countries. 

Woman's  work  for  woman  in  China,  on  the  part  of  native  Bible- 
women  and  teachers,  presents  very  cheering  and  encouraging  aspects. 
Dr.  MacKay,  of  Formosa,  in  a  chapter  upon  "  Native  Workers  for 
Native  Women,"  gives  us  the  following  information :  "  Some  of  the 
most  zealous  and  successful  workers,  who  were  one  with  the  little 
band  of  students  in  our  early  struggles,  and  who  bravely,  and 
almost  single-handed,  stemmed  the  tide  of  bitter  persecution,  were 
women,  of  whom  fragrant  memories  are  still  cherished  by  the  church 
there."     The  whole  chapter  is  a  vivid  portrayal  of  woman's  hfe  in 

be  under  the  power  of  man.  The  sages,  statesmen,  and  great  thinkers  of  bygone 
ages  have  never  said  anything  in  her  defence,  and  generation  after  gv  aeration  has 
but  transmitted  the  idea  that  her  position  is  inferior  to  that  of  man."— Rev.  J. 
Macgowan  (L.  M.  S.),  Amoy,  China. 

"  With  very  rare  exceptions,  women  are  never  educated.  Of  heathen  women 
possibly  one  in  two  or  three  thousand  can  read.  One  of  the  stock  arguments 
against  the  education  of  girls,  and  in  favor  of  foot-binding,  is  that  these  measures  are 
necessary  to  make  them  docile.  If  they  were  educated  and  had  natural  feet,  they 
would  gad  about  and  do  nothing,  or  become  independent  and  ungovernable.  The 
masses  of  the  women  are  kept  busy  with  cooking,  spinning,  weaving,  and  sewing. 
Those  who  are  rich  spend  their  time  in  embroidery,  gossip,  and  gambling.  The 
Christians  are  more  generally  teaching  their  wives  to  read,  and  educating  their 
daughters."— The  late  Mrs.  C.  W.  Mateer  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Tungchow,  China. 

1  Martin,  "  A  Cycle  of  Cathay,"  pp.  82,  83. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


191 


Formosa,  and  of  the  service  which  has  been  rendered  by  devoted 
Bible-women.^ 

There  seems  to  be  an  incongruity  between  the  theoretical  ideal  re- 
garding woman  which  is  found  in  the  literature  and  philosophy  of 
China,  and  the  every-day  practice  which  has  prevailed  for  centuries  in 
Chinese  society.  There  are  famous  books  of  instruction  about  woman, 
and  especially  addressed  to  her,  such  as  "  The  Four  Books  for  Girls  " 
and  "  The  Classics  for  Women,"  as  well  as  "  The  Records  of  Illustrious 
Women  in  Ancient  Times  " ;  but  these  literary  monitors  seem  to  wield 
only  a  feeble  influence  in  real  life  either  over  the  minds  of  men  or  in 
moulding  the  lives  of  women.  The  Rev.  James  Ware,  in  a  little  vol- 
ume recently  published,  entitled,  "  A  Peep  into  a  Chinaman's  Library," 
quotes  the  verdict  of  Dr.  Faber,  of  Shanghai,  concerning  these  biog- 
raphies of  famous  Chinese  women.  Dr.  Faber's  views  of  the  charac- 
ter and  tone  of  the  subject-matter  therein  contained  are  given  in  a  brief 
summary.2  It  is  clear  that  a  Chinese  woman  can  entertain  but  little 
hope  that  her  lot  will  be  changed  through  the  teachings  of  the  Classics. 

>  MacKay,  "  From  Far  Formosa,"  chap,  xxxii.  Cf.  also  a  sketch  of  woman's 
life  in  China,  in  au  article  by  Mrs.  George  S.  Hays,  in  The  Missionary  Keview  of 
the  World,  February,  1897,  pp.  102,  103. 

>  Dr.  Faber's  researches  into  this  extensive  field  of  Chinese  literature  have  led 
him  to  record  the  following  results :  "  (i)  The  imperial  harem  has  always  been  a 
■ource  of  moral  pestilence  to  China.  (2)  This  harem  is  imitated,  according  to 
means,  by  every  mandarin  and  wealthy  person  throughout  the  empire.  As  long  as 
these  harems  are  tolerated,  it  will  be  found  impossible  to  reform  Chinese  social  life 
and  bring  it  to  a  condition  approaching  health.  (3)  Polygamy  shows  its  worst  in- 
fluence on  female  nature;  it  excites  a  number  of  base  passions  which  have  caused 
unspeakable  misery  in  China,  and  continue  to  do  so.  (4)  The  general  neglect  of 
female  education  causes  a  corresponding  disastrous  influence  of  courtesans. 
(5)  Most  of  the  '  Famous  Women '  belong  to  ancient  times  and  to  the  highest  ranks 
in  Chinese  society.  (6)  Female  virtue  is  in  modern  China  almost  exclusively  of  a 
passive  nature,  too  often  consisting  in  nothing  but  a  stupid  imitation  of  ancient  ex- 
*"*P'*-  (7)  None  of  the  stories  point  to  spiritual  comforts,  nor  to  the  hope  of  a 
better  world.  Though  there  are  accounts  of  females  said  to  have  reached  the  state  of 
immortality,  it  will  be  difficult  to  discover  a  Chinese  woman  striving  after  the  same 
success.  (8)  We  find,  on  the  whole,  very  few  Chinese  women  famous  for  noble 
qualities,  the  greater  number  being  objectionable  from  the  standpoint  of  Christi.in 
morality.  (9)  We  find  infanticide  mentioned,  by  which  not  only  the  child  but 
motherly  affection  is  mu-dered.  Thougn  Buddhism  warns  against  destruction  of 
human  life,  the  crime  has  increased  in  the  course  of  time,  and  is  not  yet  recognized 
as  murder  punishable  by  law.  Thousands  of  female  babies  are  destroyed  every 
year.  (10)  Suicide  is  encouraged,  as  a  woman  belongs  to  her  affianced  and  has  no 
business  to  live  on  after  his  death.  (11)  The  stories  of  supernatural  females  show 
perfect  agreement  with  modern  emancipation  theories  in  Western  lands.  (12)  Vice 
i*  made  as  famous  as  virtue  in  these  stories.     Chastity  seems  only  insisted  on  in 


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182  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Now  let  Christianity  try  what  it  can  do  to  help  her  and  to  bring  in  an 
era  of  happier  life  and  nobler  destiny. 

That  an  age  of  Christianized  womanhood  has  begun  in  China  may 
fairly  be  claimed,  although  as  yet  the  relative  proportion  of  Christian 
women  in  that  vast  population  is  exceedingly 
AneraofChrUtunUed  small.  This  fact,  however,  only  adds  to  the  im- 
womanhoodh..  begun  ^^^^^^^^  ^^^  ^„y^^^  of  the  value  of  that  infinitesi- 
mal leaven  as  it  works  in  the  hearts  and  homes 
of  Chinese  women.  Education  is  advancing,  and  schools  for  girls  are 
multiplying,  many  of  normal  standards  and  high  curriculum  having 
aheady  been  founded.  Classes  for  adult  women  are  popular,  and  train- 
ing-schools for  Bible-women,  such  as  the  one  Miss  Adele  Fielde  con- 
ducted for  many  years  at  Swatow,  give  special  promise  of  usefulness. 
Christian  homes  have  been  established,  and  higher  standards  of  re- 
spect and  consideration  towards  woman  have  secured  recognition  to  a 
remarkable  extent  in  such  an  unimpressible  community. 

Still  more  noticeable  is  the  fact  that  Chinese  women  are  entering 
the  medical  profession,  and  are  already  acquitting  themselves  with 
credit.     A  class  for  women  is  conducted  at  the 
Medic.,  honor,  for     Canton   Hospital,  under  Drs.  Niles  and  Fulton 
Chinese  women.       and  there  are  other  classes  in  connection  with 
several  of  the  larger  hospitals  of  the  empire.     The 
first  student  of  medicine  among  the  women  of  China  who  received  a 
foreign  diploma  and  returned  to  her  native  land  to  practise  her  profes- 
sion was  Dr.  You  Me  Kying  (written  in  English  "You  May  King"). 
She  was  the  daughter  of  a  native  pastor,  and  was  bom  in  1864.     After 
the  death  of  her  father  and  mother,  which  occurred  in  her  infancy,  she 
was  taken  into  the  family  of  Dr.  D.  B.  McCartee,  then  a  missionary  of 
the  American  Presbyterian  Board  at  Ningpo.     She  received  a  careful 
education,  mostly  under  the  personal  direction  of  Mrs.  McCartee,  and 
afterwards  came  with  Dr.  McCartee's  family  to  America,  where  she 
eventually  entered  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  the  New  York  In- 
firmary for  Women  and  Children,  and  was  graduated  at  the  head  of 
her  class  in  1885.     In  1887  she  was  sent  out  by  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America  as  a  medical  missionary 
to  Amoy,  where  she  served  in  that  special  sphere  for  a  year.i    Subse- 

regard  to  women  engaged  or  married,  not  as  of  any  moral  value  in  itsrlf.  (13)  Chi- 
nese  women  cannot  have  a  purifying  influence  upon  Chinese  social  life  under  the 
present  circumstances. "-Ware,  "  A  Peep  into  a  Chinaman's  Library,"  pp.  42-45- 
1  "Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  m 
America,  1887."  p.  ir     For  a  sketch  of  Dr.  Kying,  see  Tht  Medical  Missumary 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


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quently  Dr.  McCartee  and  his  family  removed  to  Japan,  and  this  led 
her  to  enter  the  service  of  the  American  Methodist  (Southern)  Board, 
as  a  missionary  physician  at  Kobe,  where  she  remained  for  five  years. 
Her  marriage  afterwards  to  Mr.  E.  de  Silva  brought  her  again  to 
America,  where  she  now  (1898)  resides  in  San  Francisco,  California. 
Another— apparently  the  second— Chinese  woman  to  enter  the  pro- 
fession with  a  Western  diploma  was  Dr.  Hu  King  Eng,  who  finished 
her  preparatory  course  at  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  and,  after 
completing  her  studies  at  that  institution,  entered  the  Woman's  Medical 
College  at  Philadelphia  in  1888,  though  illness  deferred  her  graduation 
until  1894.     She  returned  to  China  in  1895,  as  a  missionary  of  the 
Woman's  Foreign   Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.     She  is  a  granddaughter  of  one  of  the  eariiest  native  Chris- 
tians in  China,  and  was  herself  baptized  in  her  native  land.     Her  father 
was  a  converted  mandarin,  his  two  sons  entering  the  ministry  of  the 
Methodist  Mission,  and  this  daughter  (bom  in  1866)  adopting  the  pro- 
fession of  medicine.     Upon  her  return  to  China  she  was  greeted  with 
an  ovation  by  mandarins  and  coolies,  all  ranks  of  society  paying 
honor  to  her  gifts,  and  recognizing  with  respect  the  remarkable  char- 
acter of  her  achievements.     She  is  now  known  as  the  "  Miracle  Lady." 
One  instance  is  related  of  a  Chinese  wheeling  his  blind  old  mother  in 
a  wheelbarrow  a  thousand  miles  to  consult  her.     It  is  worthy  of  note 
that  Dr.  Hu  King  Eng  and  Miss  Marguerite  Wong.i  both  of  whom 
were  educated  at  mission  schools,  were  appointed  by  the  Chinese 
Government  as  delegates  to  a  Woman's  Congress  planned  to  be  held 
in  London  in  1 899.     The  former  has  lately  been  asked  to  accept  the 
position  of  physician  in  the  household  of  Li  Hung  Chang.     The  medi- 
cal profession  is  now  increasingly  popular  among  Chinese  women.    The 
graduation,  with  special  honor,  of  Drs.   Meigii  Shie  (Mary  Stone) 
and  Ida  Kahn  from  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of 
Michigan  in  1896  is  an  interesting  incident  in  two  respects— they  left 
a  record  in  both  character  and  scholarship  which  is  not  often  surpassed, 
and  are  among  the  Christian  pioneers  in  the  ministry  of  healing  to 
their  country women.a     They  returned  to  China  in  September,  1896. 
Record,  August,   1887,  pp.  81,  82.     Cf.  also  a  statement  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Aik- 
man,  D.D.,  in  The  Chunk  at  Home  and  Abroad,  April,  1898,  p.  288. 

1  Since  her  appointment  Miss  Wong  has  been  married  to  Dr.  Lim  Boo  Keng. 
She  gives  an  interesting  account  of  her  meeting  with  Li  Hung  Chang,  in  Woman's 
Missionary  Fnend,  December,  1896,  p.  173. 

»  "  President  Angell,  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  so  widely  known  in  Chin* 
smce  his  diplomatic  service  there  in  1878-79,  '  by  the  authority  of  the  Honorable 
Board  of  Regents.'  conferred  the  degrees  upon  seven  hundred  and  forty-five  stu- 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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In  the  various  medical  classes  for  women  in  China  there  are  also  many 
bright  and  capable  students  who  are  preparing  for  a  life  of  special 
usefulness. 

Letters  received  from  missionaries  in  China  contain  frequent  refer- 

ences  to  the  changed  status  of  womanhood,  due  to  missions,  which  is 

already  noticeable,  and  is  growing  more  and  more 

Beneflu  which  Chrii-   pronounced.     "  It  is  common,"  writes  the  Rev. 

tianity  ii  brineins  to      ,..„„,     ..  ,„    „     _    ..    .     . 

the  women  of  Chin..  W.  P.  Chalfant  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  of  Ichowfu,  "  to 
hear  outsiders  comment  admiringly  on  the  im- 
provement in  our  Christian  women.  Native  ideas  upon  the  subject  of 
the  rights  and  capabilities  of  women  are  steadily  changing."  The  Rev. 
J.  Macgowan  (L.  M.  S.),  of  Amoy,  speaks  of  the  "new  sentiment  that 
permeates  every  Christian  household.  The  result  is  seen  in  the  grad- 
ual elevation  of  woman,  and  the  different  position  she  holds  from  that 
which  obtained  when  I  first  arrived  in  China.  Certain  rights  are  se- 
cured to  her  that  heathen  women  dare  not  claim.  Parents  may  not 
marry  their  daughter  to  a  heathen,  unless  it  is  impossible  to  get  a 
Christian,  nor  to  any  man  of  known  bad  character.  They  may  not 
dispose  of  her  to  be  a  concubine  or  second  wife,  neither  can  they  com- 
pel her  to  be  betrothed  to  one  to  whom  she  herself,  for  moral  reasons, 
has  an  antipathy.  If  they  do  not  regard  the  welfare  of  their  girls  in 
these  matters,  the  Church  steps  in  and  utters  its  voice  in  their  behalf. 
Again,  a  man  may  not  ill-treat  his  wife,  or,  except  for  one  offence, 
divorce  her,  or  take  another  wife,  unless  he  is  prepared  to  come  under 
the  discipline  of  the  Church.  Hitherto  woman  has  had  no  champion 
to  stand  by  in  her  defence.  Now  she  has,  and  one  that  is  prepared  to 
right  every  wrong  in  her  social  life."  ^ 

dents.  They  marched  to  the  platform  and  received  their  diplomas  at  his  hands,  but 
to  none  was  there  accorded  such  a  universal  outburst  of  applause  from  students  and 
visitors  as  '  >  these  two  little  Chinese  women.  .  .  .  The  demonstration  was  also 
participated  in  by  the  medical  faculty,  the  only  time  any  of  the  staff  joined  the  stu- 
dents." — IVoman's  Missionary  Friend,  August,  1896,  p.  42. 

1  "  At  the  present  time,"  writes  the  Rev.  T.  \V.  Perrce  (L.  M.  S.),  of  Hong 
Kong,  "  each  Christian  home  is  an  object-lesson,  and  the  influence  of  Christianity 
in  purifying  and  elevating  domestic  life  is  acknowledged  by  many  non-Christians. 
The  women  of  the  churches  take  their  part  in  Christian  effort  and  usefulness. 
Attached  to  our  own  church  is  a  Dorcas  Society  composed  of  Chinese  women,  to 
the  number  of  twenty  or  more,  who  spend  one  morning  of  each  week  in  sewing 
garments  as  a  contribution  to  the  benevolent  work  of  the  church." 

"  The  position  of  the  women,"  writes  the  Rev.  W.  Gauld  (C.  P.  M.),  of  Tam- 
(ui,  Formosa,  "  in  Christian  households  is  so  decidedly  improved  that  many  heathen 
parents  try  to  obtain  Christian  husbands  for  their  daughters.  Twenty  years  ago  it 
was  with  very  great  difficulty  that  a  Christian  man,  even  a  preacher,  could  find  a 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSJOXS 


186 


The  Japanese,  perhaps  more  than  any  other  Oriental  people,  have 
responded  with  quick  and  intelligent  appreciation  to  Western  ideas  con- 
ceming  a  higher  type  of  womanhood.    The  women 
of  Japan  arc  naturally  gifted  with  more  refinement  a  n«w  typ.  of  woman, 
and  graciousness  than  can  be  found  among  most         •«""• '"  J»p«n- 
Asiatic  peoples,  and  there  is  reason  to  expect  that 
when  the  finer  elements  of  Christian  womanliness  are  added,  a  char- 
acter of  rare  beauty  and  excellence  will  result,  which  will  prove  a  bless- 
ing to  Japanese  society,  and  add  a  winsome  dignity  to  the  influence  of 
Christianity  in  Eastern  Asia.' 

Japanese  statesmanship  has  shown  itself  alert  on  the  subject  of 
female  education.  To  what  extent  this  is  due  to  Christian  missions 
need  not  be  stated  with  any  attempt  at  definite  assertion,  but  it  is 
evident  that  one  of  the  features  of  reactionary  policy  in  Japan  has 
been  to  check  the  movement  for  the  higher  training  and  social  ad- 
wife,  but  now  alliance  with  such  men  is  sought  after,  because  of  their  reputation 
for  love  and  kindness  towards  their  wives.  '* 

1  An  actual  occurrence  reported  in  a  Japanese  periodical,  under  the  heading 
"  The  Confessions  of  a  Converted  Husband,"  throws  a  flash-light  illumination  upon 
the  gentleness  and  patient  sweetness,  as  well  as  the  Christian  faith,  of  wliich  Japa- 
nese womanhood  is  capable.  The  account,  in  the  words  of  the  husband,  runs  as 
follows:  "  I  awoke  one  night— it  was  toward  midnight— to  hear  a  voice  praying  in 
the  garden.  It  was  the  familiar  voice  of  my  wife.  '  O  Heavenly  Father,  is  my 
husband  utterly  unworthy  to  be  received  into  Thy  grace?  I  had  believed  that  it 
was  sufficient  for  all.  Am  I  faulty  in  my  deeds?  Do  I  lack  zeal  in  prayer?  I  can 
no  longer  visit  Thy  house  of  prayer.  I  can  no  longer  read  Thy  Word.  I  can  no 
longer  sing  Thy  praise.  1  have  not  resented,  b':t  bowed  to  these  inordinate  com- 
mands, simply  because  I  trusted  to  Thy  timely  interference.  .  .  .  Thy  handmaiden 
is  unwilling  to  make  any  human  being  the  confidant  of  her  sorrows,  for  how  can  she 
lay  open  the  inhumanity  of  him  to  whom  she  has  vowed  to  be  faithful  even  unto 
death?  Thou  alone  knowest  the  bitternesi  of  her  grief.  O  Lord,  omniscient  and 
almighty,  hear  Thou  the  humble  prayer  of  Thy  handmaiden.  May  it  please  Thee 
to  lead  my  beloved  husband  into  repentance.  May  his  heart  be  opened  to  accept 
Thy  everlasting  Word.  Lord,  grant  my  petition,  or  let  me  die.  If  there  be  aught 
amiss  in  my  heart  or  in  my  daily  life  by  which  my  husband  is  kept  back  from  Thy 
salvation,  let  me  share  his  fate  with  him.  Thy  ordinance  united  us  as  man  and 
wife,  to  be  together  in  joy  and  in  sorrow,  and  I  would  be  taithful  unto  death.' 
Her  broken  voice  came  from  a  heart  heaving  with  emotion.  Impressed  as  I  already 
was  with  her  gentle  obedience,  with  her  devoted  faithfulness,  my  thoughts  in  listen- 
ing to  this  prayer  can  better  be  imagined  than  described.  Her  hot  tears  burned  into 
my  inmost  soul.  The  sacred  flame  within  her  consumed  all  that  was  obstinate  within 
me.  I  rushed  out  to  where  she  was,  and  knelt  down  beside  her.  We  both  wept, 
praising  God.  The  moon's  serene  rays  shone  down  upon  us  both,  as  i'  in  token  of 
the  heavenly  good-will.  Ah,  yes,  it  was  indeed  thus  that  I  became  a  Christian."— 
The  Japan  Evangelist,  December,  1895,  p.  xo6. 


|H 


196 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


u 


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vtncement  of  woman.  In  recent  years  public  utterance!  of  eminent 
Japanese  officials  have  revealed  a  high  appreciation  of  the  impor- 
tance of  this  aspect  of  national  development.  The  Marquis  Saionji, 
Minister  of  Education  in  1895,  delivered  an  address  at  his  official  resi- 
dence to  all  the  principals  of  the  normal  and  middle  schools,  calleil 
especially  to  meet  him,  which  contained  some  memorable  utterances, 
although  it  should  not  escape  our  notice  that  among  the  nationalistic 
and  anti-foreign  leaders  of  Japan  it  was  received  with  bitter  comment 
and  much  opposition.  The  following  quotation  from  his  remarks  in- 
dicates his  attitude.  He  said:  "  If  a  nation  wishes  to  produce  good 
and  strong  citizens,  it  iieeds  the  cultured  influence  of  woman.  This  is 
the  reason  why  foreign  nations  take  great  interest  in  the  education  of 
woman.  A  woman,  like  a  man,  needs  to  develop  her  faculties  and 
character.  Therefore,  to  us  as  a  nation  the  education  of  our  women 
is  of  the  greatest  importance."  *  The  words  of  Count  Okuma,  in  an 
address  on  the  same  subject,  before  the  normal  school  in  his  native  town 
of  Saga,  are  indicative  of  a  wise  and  intelligent  judgment  concerning 
this  entirely  new  aspect  of  public  policy  in  Japan.  He  said:  "A 
nation  consists  of  men  and  women.  Men  and  women  should  therefore 
both  be  educated.  I'ut  heretofore  the  education  of  women  has  been 
very  much  discouraged.  Now,  therefore,  this  project  must  be  greatly 
encouraged  to  make  up  for  past  shortcomings.  Every  strong  nation 
has  its  female  education  highly  developed.  In  other  words,  where  this 
has  been  emphasized,  national  strength  has  attained  to  foundations  of 
firmness  and  soundness."  ^ 

The  new  thought  of  Japan  has  been  greatly  quickened  upon  this 

theme.     All  its  aspects  are  being  discussed,  both  publicly  and  privately, 

with  interest  and  enthusiasm.  The  old  conservative 

The  social  proipecti  of  element  is  obliged  to  defend  itself  against  the  lively 

woman  a  live  question  ,      .  ,  r  .t       i      j  c        ^•   \.^ 

in  preaent-day  Japan,    and  vigorous  advocacy  of  tlie  leaders  of  enlight- 
ened progress.  The  equality  of  men  and  women  in 
their  personal  status  and  rights  is  a  live  question  in  present-day  Japan. 
The  dual  standard  of  morals  is  being  questioned  on  every  side,  and  "  a 

»   The  Japan  Evangelist,  August,  1896,  p.  357. 

There  was  held  in  Kyoto,  in  1895,  a  convention  on  the  subject  of  government 
education,  attended  by  over  three  thousand  teachers.  Many  earnest  addresses  were 
made  upon  the  subject  of  the  education  of  woman.  Among  others  was  that  of  Mr. 
S.  Tsuji,  formerly  Vice-Minister  of  Education,  who  insisted  that  such  instruction 
must  be  encouraged.  Mr.  S.  Kiba,  the  head  official  in  the  Department  of  Technical 
Education,  spoke  in  the  same  strain.  Mr.  S.  AkitsuUi,  principal  of  the  Higher 
Normal  School  for  Girls,  also  declared  with  no  uncertain  sound  his  opinion  in  favor 
of  female  education.     {Ibid.,  p.  357.)  *  Ibid.,  p.  358. 


•/i. 


■J.  X 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOSS 


white  life  for  two"  it  becoming  a  watchword  in  Jap*ne»e  reform 
circle*.  The  proposal  that  the  Imperial  University  at  Tokyo  should 
open  its  gates  to  women  who  may  be  able  to  pass  its  examinations  has 
been  supported  from  Japanese  sources.  The  desire  that  woman  should 
take  a  more  active  part  in  promoting  the  higher  welfare  of  society  and 
in  conducting  philanthropic  work  is  freely  urged  by  the  Japanese 
themselves.*  When  the  Emperor  Tiulgated  the  Constitution,  in 
1889,  his  wife  rode  by  his  side  in  an  open  carriage.  It  is  doubtful  if 
in  the  annals  of  Japan  womanhood  ever  appeared  so  prominently  in 
tlie  making  of  national  history.'*  The  present  Emperor  by  his  respect 
and  courtesy  to  the  Empress  has  set  an  example  which  is  calculated  to 
exert  a  marked  influence  in  elevating  the  marriage  relation  and  con- 
serving  the  honor  of  the  home.' 

The  public  press  of  Japan,  both  Christian  and  non-Christian,  is  dis- 
cussing the  subject  of  the  social  position  of  woman  in  all  its  aspects, 
not  without  some  narrowness  and  ire  on  the  part  of  nationalistic  jour- 
nals, but,  on  the  whole,  with  excellent  spirit  and  acute  discrimination. 
Woman  is  contributing  her  share  to  the  controversy,  and  with  no  mean 
ability  giving  an  impetus  to  her  side  of  the  question.  Such  articles  as 
those  by  Mrs.  Gin  Ogino,  on  "  The  Past  and  the  Future  of  Japanese 
Woman  Physicians,"  indicate  this.*  The  Japan  Evangelist  has  a  well- 
conducted  department  devoted  exclusively  to  the  interests  of  woman, 
the  subject-matter  of  which  is  mostly  supplied  by  Japanese  wTiters.  A 
few  of  the  topics  treated  therein  will  show  the  scope  and  directness  of 
the  advocacy  of  these  higher  ideals.  Among  them,  as  we  glance 
through  the  files,  we  find  the  following :  "  Japanese  Women  in  Reli- 
gion," "  The  Future  of  Japanese  Women,"  "  Social  and  Civil  Rights  of 
Japanese  Women,"  "  Women  and  Charities,"  "  The  Present  Condition 
of  Woman's  Education  in  Japan,"  "The  Responsibility  of  Japanese 
Women  in  Leading  and  Civilizing  Asia,"  "  Christian  Influence  in  the 

1  Cf.  article  entitled  "Japanese  Thoughts  on  Womai's  Education,"  by  Mrs. 
W.  E.  Hoy,  in  The  Jafan  Evangelist,  April,  1897,  pp.  213-217. 

*  Bacon,  "Japanese  Girls  and  Women,"  p.  115. 

»  While  this  remark  is  true,  the  Occidental  reader  will  still  be  obliged  to  adjust 
his  sensibilities  to  an  Oriental  environment  when  he  learns  that  "  the  Emperor 
added  another  concubine  to  his  harem  during  the  celebration  of  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  his  marriage  to  the  Empress."  The  present  Crown  Prince  is  in  fact 
the  son  of  a  concubine.  A  military  officer  of  the  Japanese  Government  expressed 
to  a  missionary  the  hope  "  that  when  the  Prince  came  to  the  throne  he  would  set  a 
better  example." 

«  The  original  articles  appeared  in  the  Jogaku  Zasshi,  but  were  translated  for 
The  Japan  Evangelist  of  February  and  April,  1894. 


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ii 


198 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Home,"  "  New  Fields  for  Japanese  Women."    Themes  like  these  are 
surely  the  signs  of  nobler  aspirations  for  Oriental  womanhood.* 

The  question  may  well  be  asked  here,  Can  this  change  of  sentiment 

and  this  new  trend  of  thought  concerning  the  elevation  of  woman  be 

traced  in  any  degree  to  mission  influence?    With- 

The  new  trend  of       Qut  attempting  to  pronounce  too  hasty  and  un- 

thoueht  Is  lareely  due  ,■/...,  .  .  i 

to  million  influence,  qualified  a  judgment  upon  this  point,  we  leave  our 
readers,  with  the  facts  in  view,  to  form  their  own 
opinion.  It  seems  certain  that  female  education,  at  least,  has  been  an  out- 
growth of  missions.  The  new  respect  for  woman  is  to  a  marked  extent 
identified  with  Christianity.  The  higher  standards  of  courtesy  and  con- 
sideration are  in  large  measure  traceable  to  the  same  source.  The 
better  and  nobler  home  life  of  Japan  is  certainly  Christian.  The  dis- 
honor to  womanhood  in  the  system  of  concubinage  has  been  revealed 
and  emphasized  through  biblical  teaching.  Is  it  likely  that  these 
changes  would  have  taken  place  in  Japanese  society,  and  these  sub- 
jects of  discussion  have  assumed  such  prominence,  had  Christian  mis- 
sions never  entered  the  empire? 2 


iipiil 


linn 


1  The  Japan  Evangelist,  December,  1895,  February,  June,  and  August,  1896, 
May  and  June,  1897. 

Some  statements  which  are  made  in  one  of  the  articles  mentioned  m?y  be  quoted. 
In  speaking  of  Christian  influence  in  the  home,  the  following  testimony  to  the  honor 
of  womanhood  is  recorded:  "  Since  the  year  when  war  between  Japan  and  China 
was  declared,  it  has  been  a  hard  time  for  military  men  both  on  land  and  sea.  They 
have  endured  much  for  nearly  three  years.  During  this  period,  many  wives  stained 
the  fair  names  of  their  heroic  husbands  by  their  shameless  conduct,  and  it  is  fre- 
quently reported  that  they  used  the  precious  savings  sent  to  them  by  their  thought- 
ful and  trusting  husbands  for  most  abominable  purposes.  The  Christian  wives  of 
Christian  soldiers,  however,  presented  quite  a  different  picture,  and  made  the  light 
of  their  faith  shine  brightly.  Of  none  of  them  did  we  hear  any  such  bad  report. 
On  the  contrary,  appreciating  their  husbands'  severe  sacrifices,  they  kept  their 
homes  pure,  and  performed  their  duties  towards  their  parents-in-law,  as  well  as 
attended  to  the  education  of  their  children.  So  faithfully  and  wisely  were  these 
duties  discharged  that  their  husbands,  on  their  return,  found  their  homes  happy 
and  in  good  condition.  The  difference  in  their  situation,  as  compared  with  that 
of  their  comrades,  filled  their  hearts  with  joy  and  gratitude.  Is  this  not  good  evi- 
dence of  the  power  of  Christian  influence  upon  the  very  foundation  of  society— the 
home?  "—  The  Japan  Evangelist,  June,  1896,  p.  288. 

*  "  The  elevation  of  woman  has  brought  about  a  change  in  sentiment,  and  in  prac- 
tice too,  concerning  concubinage.  The  evil  has  been  recognized,  and  it  is  no  longer 
considered  respectable.  ^Yhere  it  is  practised  it  is  inclined  to  hide  itself."— Rev. 
Henry  Stout,  D.D.  (Ref.  C.  A.),  Nagasaki. 

"The  material  and  social  benefits  that  have  come  to  Japan  during  the  past 
twenty-five  years— directly  and  indirectly   the   results  of  Christian  teaching— are 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


199 


The  history  of  the  establishment  and  rapid  growth  of  female  educa- 
tion in  Japan  is  inseparably  linked  with  missionary  effort.     The  Rev, 
Henry  Stout,  D.D.,  of  Nagasaki,  writes  to  the  author:  "The  very  idea 
of  education  for  women  must  be  traced  to  missions.     Speaking  from 
personal  experience,  the  first  suggestions  of  this  kind  were  received  with 
stolid  indifference.  .  ,  .  Women  are  now  regarded  not  only  as  capable 
of  education,  but  as  worthy  of  receiving  it.     This,  I  believe,  must  be 
set  down  chiefly  to  the  credit  of  missions.     But  it  would  be  unfair  to 
claim  all  as  due  to  this  agency,  except  perhaps  indirectly ;  for  many  who 
have  been  personally  uninfluenced  by  Christianity  have  come  to  see  the 
good  to  be  derived  from  the  considerate  treatment  of  women,  have 
fallen  in  with  the  views,  and  by  their  own  conduct  helped  forward  the 
movement."     It  is  now  (1898)  only  twenty-seven  years  since  the  first 
mission  school  for  giris  was  opened  in  the  empire.     At  present  there 
are  about  eighty  in  successful  operation,  besides  those  conducted  under 
other  than  mission  auspices.     The  subject  is  now  so  much  to  the  front 
that  annual  conferences  on  the  Christian  education  of  woman  are 
regulariy  held.     The  more  important  of  these  schools  are  devoted  to 
normal  training,  and  graduate  teachers  who  have  no  difficulty  in  find- 
ing employment. 


i 


many.  The  greatest  of  all  is  the  higher  estimate  that  has  been  put  upon  woman,  and 
the  new  ideas  in  respect  to  home  life,  as  shown  in  the  educational  institutions  that 
have  been  established  by  the  Government,  or  by  individual  enterprise,  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  woman.  When  I  came  to  Japan  twenty-one  years  ago,  there  was  not  a 
girls'  school  tn  the  empire  outside  of  missionary  circles.  The  provisions  which 
have  been  made  here  for  woman's  education  within  the  past  eighteen  or  twenty 
years  are  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  age.  There  are  to-day  in  Japan  hundreds, 
yea,  thousands,  of  pure  women  who  are  moral,  and  intelligent  factors  in  society, 
who  would  not  have  been  such  but  for  the  introduction  of  Christianity. "-Rev 
Julius  Soper  (M.  E.  M.  S.),  Hakodate. 

Christianity  will  also  do  away  with  the  forcible  marriage  of  girls  against  their 
will,  and  to  men  they  have  never  seen  till  the  evening  of  the  marriage  ceremony. 
One  of  our  believers  was  told  by  her  parents  and  brothers  that  she  must  marry, 
and  so  they  presented  for  her  sanction  several  men,  some  four  or  five  in  a  month, 
and  when  she  refused  to  be  wedded  to  any  one  of  them,  she  was  taken  to  the  home 
of  a  man  she  had  never  seen,  and  married  to  him.  Our  Christians  said,  '  Barbarous.' 
and  we  echo  the  opinion. "-Rev.  S.  W.  Hamblen  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  Sendai 
Japan. 

"  Twenty  years  ago  it  was  an  unheard-of  thing  for  a  man  to  be  seen  walking 
with  his  wife,  but  now  they  can  be  observed  not  only  walking  and  talking  together, 
but  riding  in  the  same  jinrikisha.  The  system  of  concubinage,  which  has  wrought 
such  evils  in  family  life,  is  opposed  by  a  growing  public  sentiment  which  has 
been  fanned  by  the  direct  efforts  of  Christian  people,  and  others  influenced  by 
Christian  principle. "-Professor  John  C.  Ballagh  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Tokyo. 


:ii.i 


200 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  FKOGRESS 


opmcnt  of  female  edu- 
cation in  Japan. 


One  of  the  finest  institutions  of  the  kind  in  Japan  is  the  Col- 
lege {Jo  Gakuin)  of  the  American  Board  Mission  at  Kobe,  which, 
in  1895,  celebrated  its  twentieth  anniversary.  At 
Th«  phenomenal  devei-  that  time  it  was  reported  that  over  6go  pupils  had 
been  admitted  since  its  foundation,  of  whom  132 
had  been  graduated.  Of  this  number  32  were 
engaged  in  educational  work.^  Other  institutions  whose  success  and 
usefulness  have  been  conspicuous  are  the  Joshi  Gakuin,  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Mission  (U.  S.  A.),  at  Tokyo,  the  Ferris  Seminary,  Yokohama, 
the  Jonathan  Sturges  Seminary,  Nagasaki  (both  of  the  Reformed  Church 
of  America),  the  Methodist  schools  at  Nagasaki  and  Hakodate,  the 
Naniwa  Girls'  School  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission,  and  the 
Bishop  Poole  Memorial  Girls'  School  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
both  at  Osaka,  and  St.  Agnes'  School  of  the  American  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  at  Kyoto.  The  total  graduating  from  these  and 
similar  schools  at  the  present  time  may  be  estimated  at  about  seventy 
per  year.  "  There  are  now,"  writes  the  Rev.  Henry  Loomis,  of  Yoko- 
hama, "  hundreds  of  Japanese  homes  where  the  daughters  have  been 
taught  the  modem  branches,  and,  what  is  best  of  all,  they  are  animated 
by  Christian  principles  and  live  devoted  lives.  In  strength  of  character 
and  singleness  of  purpose  some  of  these  Christian  women  are  the  peers 
of  the  men,  and  examples  to  all  Japanese  society."  There  are  also, 
besides  strictly  literary  institutions,  others  for  the  education  of  nurses, 
as  the  Kyoto  Training-School  in  connection  with  the  Doshisha,  and 
those  for  Scripture  instruction,  where  Bible-women  are  trained,  as  the 
Bible  School  at  Kobe.  Private  classes  of  this  character  are  conducted 
at  many  points.  These  facts  are  full  of  promise  when  we  consider  that 
the  missionary  purpose  is  beginning  to  lay  hold  upon  the  Christian  con- 
science of  Japan,  and  that  native  missionaries,  both  men  and  women, 
are  being  sent  to  Formosa.^ 


1    The  Japan  Evangelist,  February,  1 896,  p.  173. 

»  In  an  article  written  by  a  native  Christian  lady,  entitled  "  New  Fields  for  Japa- 
nese Women,"  occurs  the  following  paragraph,  which  reveals  a  truly  Christian 
instinct  concerning  missionary  obligation :  "  Japan  as  a  nation  has  been  given  the 
noble  privilege  of  being  the  first  to  receive  and  interpret  the  civilization  of  the  West. 
Standing  at  Asia's  gateway,  the  task  assigned  her  seems  to  be  to  open  her  mind 
to  Western  ideas,  to  assimilate  them,  and  then  to  give  them  to  her  sister  nations  in 
a  more  or  less  modified  form.  The  Christian  religion,  like  many  other  gifts  from 
the  Occident,  must  first  be  studied  and  reduced  to  its  purest  fundamental  elements 
by  minds  other  than  European  before  it  can  be  comprehended  by  the  Asiatic  mind. 
Christianity  often  comes  in  forms  too  highly  colored  with  Western  modes  of  thought 
for  our  ready  appreciation.     It  stands  to  reason,  therefore,  that  we  are  better  able 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  301 

A  glance  at  what  missions  have  done  for  woman  in  Korea  opens  to 
ws  a  fresh  and  almost  romantic  chapter  of  beginnings.     We  are  dealing 
with  first  things  in  this  story  of  brightening  hopes 
for  Korean  womanhood.     In  Tlie  Korean  Reposi-    A  romantic  chapter  of 
tory  for  January,    1896,  we   have   a   sketch  of    «'''«»'••""'«  p'O'p*"" 

«  \\i  f     iir     I     •       ..  ""  Korean  women. 

Woman  s  Work  m  Korea."     It  opens  with  the 
statement  that  those  who  have  recently  arrived  can  "scarcely  realize 
the  difference  between  the  I'orea  of  to-day  and  the  country  to  which 
we  came  more  than  ten  years  ago."     The  first  girls'  school  was  es- 
tablished by  the  Methodist  Mission  in  1886.     Many  difficulties  and 
embarrassments  had  to  be  overcome  in  securing  pupils,  but  the  last 
report  states  that  there  are  now  forty-seven  in  attendance.     In  the 
Heathen  Woman's  Friend  for  September,  1895,  >s  an  article  by  Mrs 
M.  F.  Scranton,  of  Seoul,  entitled  "  A  Social  Advance."     The  incident 
to  which  sht  refers  under  the  above  title  is  that  at  a  public  function  in 
honor  of  the  independence  of  Korea,  consisting  of  a  banquet  and 
garden-party  at  the  palace,  to  which  all  foreigners  and  many  Koreans 
of  rank  were  invited,  a  decided  innovation  in  the  customs  of  the  country 
was  inaugurated.     This  was  the  presence  of  the  wives  of  the  cabinet 
ministers,  who  were  to  receive  with  them  and  take  part  in  the  ceremonies 
of  the  occasion.     One  of  these  officials,  whose  wife  had  been  educated 
m  the  Methodist  Mission  School,  acknowledged  to  Mrs.  Scranton  that 
this  was  the  first  time  that  he  had  ever  publicly  introduced  her      This 
fact  IS.  perhaps,  an  insignificant  bit  of  history,  but,  as  Mrs.  Scranton 
writes,  "to  us  who  are  here,  and  who  know  about  the  secluded  and 
narrow  hves  of  Korean  women,  it  seems  a  most  important  and  sugges- 
tive event.'      "  We  are  moving  forward,"  is  the  comment  of  the  editor 
of  Tlie  Korean  Repository,  in  reporting  a  mass-meeting  of  Christians  on 
the  Kmg's  birthday,  1897,  at  which  one  of  the  speakers,  the  editor  of 
The  Independent,  the  only  English  n-wspaper  published  in  Korea,  "  made 
a  splendid  plea  for  woman,  and  the  necessity  of  '  -  noring  her."    The 
editor  of  the  Repository  continues  as  follows :  "  *       is  the  first  public 
utterance  on  this  subject  we  remember  hearing."^ 

to  approach  our  Korean  and  Chinese  sisters,  as  well  as  those  in  Formosa,  th«i  are 
our  Western  s,srers.  We  will  have  to  seek  them  in  their  own  homes,  as  we  have 
been  sought  m  ours,  and  give  them  our  truest  and  best-in  short,  give  to  them  in 
our  turn,  what  has  been  so  freely  given  to  us.  We  must  re.nember  that  we  have 
many  th.ngs  in  common-our  literature,  our  social  customs,  etc..  which  ought  cer- 
tainly to  be  a  bond  between  us  to  prepare  the  way  for  mutual  understanding. "-r/i* 
Japan  Evangelist,  February,  1896.  p.  169. 

1  The  Korean  Repository,  September,  1897,  p.  358. 


i 


•|.|^ 


Ti    J 


h  '■ 


202  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

If  we  turn  now  to  note  what  missions  in  Mohammedan  lands  have 
accomplished  for  the  elevation  of  woman,  we  find  interesting  facts  to 
record.     A  carefully  prepared  article  by  the  late 
Th«btginningof«b«t-   Rev.  Thomas  Laurie,  D.D.,  on  "The  Beginnings 
**'  MMUmTa'a"'" '"     °^  ^^^  Education  of  Woman  in  Syria,"  >  presents  a 
detailed  review  of  the  early  history  of  female  edu- 
cation in  that  land,  recounting  its  difficulties,  now  hardly  credible,  and 
also  showing  its  fruits  in  the  lives  of  a  group  of  remarkable  women, 
who,  during  the  past  fifty  years,  have  been  an  honor  to  Christianity  in 
Syria.     A  memorial  column  has  been  erected  I.,  front  of  the  mission 
church  at  Beirut,  in  commemoration  of  the  first  day-school  for  girls  in 
Syria,  which  was  opened,  in  1835,  by  Mrs.  Sarah  Huntington  Smith,  the 
wife  of  Dr.  Eli  Smith.     On  the  i8th  of  April,  1894,  at  the  unveiling 
of  this  column,  nine  hundred  native  children  assembled  to  celebrate 
and  adorn  the  occasion.     In  1835  there  was  this  one  little  day-school 
for  girls,  conducted  by  missionaries  of  the  American  Board;  at  the 
present  time  there  are  thirty-six  boarding  and  day  schools  for  them  in 
Beirut  alone,  under  Protestant,  Roman  Catholic,  Greek,  and  even 
Moslem  direction.     Protestant  schools  for  giris  scattered  throughout 
Syria  and  Palestine  have  not  less  than  nine  thousand  pupils,  and  if  we 
should  count  those  of  all  sects  and  creeds  there  would  be  several  thou- 
sands more. 

The  first  giris'  boarding-school  in  Syria  was  founded  by  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  De  Forest,  in  1847.     Since  then  female  education  has  grown  to 
be  almost  a  specialty  in  Syrian  mission  work.     Such  admirable  institu- 
tions as  the  giris'  seminaries  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission  at 
Beirut,  Sidon,  and  Tripoli,  and  that  of  the  Irish  Presbyterians  at  Damas- 
cus, the  British  Syrian  Institution  at  Beirut,  and  other  schools  at  Hasbeiya 
and  Zahleh,  under  the  same  direction,  St.  George's  School  and  Orphan- 
age,  under  the  charge  of  Miss  Jessie  Taylor,  and  the  Orphanage  of 
the  Prussian  Deaconesses  at  Beirut,  the  training  institutions  at  Shimlan 
and  Shweir,  Miss  Proctor's  school  at  Shweifat,  and  that  of  the  Re- 
formed Presbyterian  Mission  at  Latakia,  give  tangible  evidence  of  the 
efficiency  and  extent  of  female  instruction  at  the  present  time  in  Syria. 
The  advances  in  all  parts  of  the  Levant  have  been  hardly  less  marked. 
"  Female  education,"  writes  the  Rev.  Andrew  Watson,  D.D.,  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Cairo,  "  which  was  almost  unknown  in 
Egypt  at  the  time  our  work  was  begun,  is  now  making  rapid  progress, 
and  almost  entirely  under  mission  auspices."     The  appreciation  of  the 
education  of  giris  which  exists  at  present  both  in  the  Turkish  Empire 
I  Tht  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  December,  189S,  pp.  891-899- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


203 


i. 


and  Persia  is  most  remarkable  in  a  land  of  Mohammedan  traditions, 
although  the  actual  advance  is  as  yet  far  more  marked  among  Oriental 
Christians  than  among  Mohammedans.  The  statement  of  the  Rev. 
W.  L.  Whipple,  for  many  years  the  agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society 
at  Tabriz,  that  when  Dr.  Perkins,  of  the  American  Board,  first  went  to 
Persia,  in  1834,  "there  were  only  two  women  in  the  whole  Nestorian 
nation  who  could  read,"  is  sufficiently  indicative  of  the  state  of  things 
at  that  time.  Happily,  at  present  he  can  add  that  "  now  it  may  almost 
be  said  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  young  woman  who  cannot  read." 

From  Aintab,  Turkey,  Dr  Caroline  F.  Hamilton  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.) 
sends  a  similar  report.'  "  It  is  a  somewhat  extreme  statement,"  writes 
the  Rev.  Dr.  George  F.  Herrick  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Constantinople,  "but 
a  true  one,  nevertheless,  that  our  colleges  and  high  schools  for  giris 
have  had  a  wider  and  deeper  social  influence  than  that  which  they  have 
exerted  as  purely  educational  institutions."  The  higher  schools  for  the 
training  of  girls  in  the  Turkish  Empire  are  an  honor  to  modern  mis- 
sions. The  American  College  for  Giris  at  Scutari,  Constantinople,  the 
Euphrates  College  at  Harpoot,^  the  Aintab  Girls'  Seminary,  and  the 
C,"  .al  Turkey  College  for  Girls  at  Marash,  with  a  score  or  more  of 
boarding  and  high  schools  in  other  places,  form  a  monumental  tribute 
to  the  value  placed  upon  the  education  of  woman.  In  Persia  we  have 
only  to  mention  such  institutions  as  the  Faith  Hubbard  School  at  Hama- 
dan,  the  Iran  Bethel  at  Teheran,  the  Fiske  Seminary  at  Urumiah,  and  the 
Girls'  School  at  Tabriz,  to  indicate  how  thoroughly  to  the  front  is  this  im- 
portant department  of  mission  enterprise  in  that  dark  Mohammedan  land. 
No  one  can  fully  understand  the  value  of  the  Christian  education 
of  girls  as  a  social  benefit  in  Moslem  lands  without  tracing  the  indirect 
results  which  follow  and  affect  in  so  many  ways 
the  status  of  woman  and  the  customs  which  pre-  Decuive  changes  in 
vail  concerning  her.  In  important  respects  the 
traditional  policy  regarding  marriage  is  almost 
revolutionized.  Early  marriages  become  impracticable,  unless  a  giri's 
intellectual  training  is  to  be  neglected.     When  she  is  once  educated,  her 

1  "When  our  missionaries  came  to  Aintab  in  1849  and  1850,"  writes  Dr. 
Hamilton.  "  they  found  two  women  who  could  read,  among  all  the  Gregorians  in 
the  city.  Since  that  day  the  advance  has  been  marvelous.  At  present  to  educate 
their  daughters  has  become  well-nigh  fashionable,  and,  though  we  regret  to  say 
that  sometimes  it  is  wi...  the  desire  to  render  them  more  marketable,  yet  the  women 
reap  the  benefit,  and  are  certainly  better  fitted  to  train  their  children.  The  educated 
mothers  are  always  anxious  to  send  their  daughters  to  the  Seminary,  and  so  the 
lump  is  being  leavened." 

»  See  illustrations.  Vol.  I.,  pp.  275,  277,  287,  293. 


public  sentiment  and 
social  customs. 


¥ 


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c/fx/sr/.i.v  Miss/oxs  and  social  progress 


f ! 


1  \ 


superiority  of  intelligence  and  dignity  and  worth  of  character  lead 
to  a  degree  of  respect  for  her  preferences  which  have  never  been 
thought  of  before.*  The  whole  tone  of  public  sentiment,  and  espe- 
cially the  standards  of  Christian  consideration  and  kindness,  are 
slowly  but  surely  elevating  the  atmosphere  of  home  life.  Parental 
aspirations  and  desires  pertain  to  the  girls  as  well  as  the  boys.  "  Under 
the  old  regime,"  writes  the  Rev.  Edward  Riggs  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of 
Marsovan,  "  the  domestic  and  social  condition  of  woman  in  the  home 
was  most  deplorable.  The  influence  of  missions  in  breaking  down  evil 
customs,  and  introducing  Christian  liberty  into  the  inner  sanctum  of 
the  family,  is  one  of  the  most  marked  results  of  the  Gospel.  The 
graduates  of  our  girls'  schools,  who  are  now  numbered  by  the  hundreds 
throughout  the  land,  have  become  teachers,  wives,  and  mothers.  It 
has  been  found  impo.ssible  to  place  them  in  the  common  category  of 
dumb  household  drudges.  Ordinarily  the  bride  was  ridiculously  limited 
in  her  sphere  of  activity.  For  a  long  time  after  marriage  she  could  not 
under  any  circumstances  speak  above  a  whisper,  nor  even  that  without 
permission  of  her  mother-in-law,  whose  absolute  and  abject  slave  she 
was  expected  to  be.  Of  other  tyrannies  and  absurdities  I  need  not 
speak.  With  the  example  of  a  few  truly  Christian  families  before  her, 
and  the  instructions  of  her  school  course  deep  i.i  her  heart,  and 
especially  if  equally  united  to  a  young  preacher  or  teacher  similarly 
trained,  they  soon  set  a  new  fashion  of  married  life.  Mutual  respect, 
help,  and  forbearance  take  the  place  of  self-assertion  and  arbitrariness. 
The  example  has  had  influence  far  beyond  the  immediate  circle  to 
which  it  first  applied,  and  a  higher  view  of  the  marriage  relation  setms 
to  have  spread  quite  widely." 2    The  advance  from  the  crude  and  re- 


»  "  Education  prevents  early  marriage,  and  many  of  our  girls  teach  a  few 
years  before  being  married.  In  one  small  city  in  our  field,  I  am  told  there  is  not 
an  unmarried  girl  over  twenty  years  of  age.  Here  in  Aintab  there  are  several 
spinsters,  and  they  show  the  happiness  and  usefulness  possible  in  single  life- 
something  deemed  impossible  a  few  years  ago.  Then  it  was  a  shame,  but  now 
these  women  are  honored,  and  all  are  busy  workers."— Dr.  Caroline  F.  Hamilton 
(A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Aintab. 

"  It  is  certain  that  in  Syria  there  is  a  growing  sentiment  against  the  very  early 
marriage  of  girls.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  idea  that  they  are  to  be  educated— a 
thing  incompatible  with  early  marriages.  Education  is  a  direct  agency  or  fruit  of 
missions."— Rev.  Professor  George  E.  Post,  M.D.,  Beirut. 

"  Girls  are  no  longer  married  at  so  early  an  age;  they  are  now  consulted  as  to 
whom  they  will  marry,  and  are  often  lovingly  sought  and  won,  as  every  true- 
hearted  woman  ought  to  be."— Rev.  J.  K.  Greene,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.), 
Constantinople. 

^  "  The  home  has  become  immeasurably  more  lovely,  and  •  much  happier  place 
for  husbands  and  fathers,  and  to  such  the  attractions  of  the  coffee-shop  and  the 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


206 


pressive  customs  of  former  clays  to  this  era  when  educated  girls  are  in 
positions  of  dignity  and  responsibility  as  school-teachers,  members  of 
philanthropic  societies,  Bible-women,  or  mothers  of  Christian  families, 
over  which  they  preside  with  true  refinement,  gentleness,  and  loving 
fidelity,  is  indeed  inspiring. 

In  certain  sections  of  the  Continent  of  Africa  and  the  once  savage 
islands  of  the  Pacific,  there  is  a  change  in  the  social  position  of  woman 
which  in  its  magnitude  and  significance  is  incom- 
parable. Christian  ladies  from  England  have  lately  ■«"»•  «<>'••  »•  p«""« 
(.895)  entered  interior  Africa,  and  are  in  heart  '":Z:^:^^::r^:^::, 
touch  with  the  women  of  Uganda.  "  In  the  old 
days,"  writes  a  missionary,  "  woman  was  but  a  beast  of  burden.  How 
wonderful  to  see  her  now  in  many  communities  beginning  to  take  her  right- 
ful place  by  man's  side!  It  will  be  a  gradual  work,  the  elevation  of 
woman,  but  we  do  see  it  already  proceeding.  The  arrival  of  the  five 
ladies  who  accompanied  Bishop  Tucker  last  autumn  will  no  doubt 
greatly  accelerate  it."»  In  the  field  of  the  Universities'  Mission  also 
are  many  ladies  who  have  braved  the  hardships  of  an  African  life. 
Miss  Caroline  Thackeray,  of  Mbweni,  in  an  interesting  communication, 
has  given  brief  biographical  sketches  of  the  character  and  work  of  a 
number  of  native  girls  who  have  become  mission  helpers.  It  is  a  lov- 
ing and  cordial  tribute  to  the  worth  of  these  young  converts  who  have 
been  lifted  out  of  the  depths  of  heathenism  to  become  teachers  and 
exemplars  of  the  religion  of  Christ.2     Had  we  space  to  trace  the  results 

liquor-shop  have  largely  lost  their  charm.  In  short,  with  the  elevation  of  woman, 
and  the  heightened  sanctity  and  love  of  home,  has  come  an  improved  state  of 
morality  generally,  and  also  the  abolition  of  many  hurtful  customs  in  society."— 
Rev.  J.  K.  Greene,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Constantinople. 

"  The  social  status  of  woman  has  greatly  changed.  There  are  many  houses, 
particularly  among  the  Protestants,  where  the  men  and  women  sit  down  at  table 
together— a  thing  entirely  unheard  of  when  we  came  here.  Often  the  household 
purse  is  in  the  wife's  hands,  and  she  is  trusted  to  make  all  ordinary  purchases, 
while,  under  the  old  system,  stealing  from  the  husband  by  the  wife  was  »  most 
common  occurrence."— Rev.  George  C.  Raynolds,  M.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Van. 

"  Probably  a  change  in  the  relative  position  of  woman  among  all  races  in  this 
land  would  have  occurred  in  the  present  generation,  even  if  American  missionaries  had 
never  come  to  the  country.  But  whatever  of  high  and  healthy  tone  marks  the 
change  actually  taking  pla-e  is  traceable  directly  to  the  influences  thrown  into  the 
current  by  these  missionaries.  High  moral  aims,  truthfulness,  purity  of  heart 
and  imagination,  service— these  are  the  jewels  which  we  teach  them  to  seek  and 
prize  for  their  daughters.  It  is  missionary  work  alone  which  has  been  fruitful  of 
such  social  results.".-Rev.  George  F.  Herrick,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Con- 
stantinople. 

1  Pilkington,  "  The  Gospel  in  Uganda,"  p.  26. 

*  Central  Africa,  December,  1896,  pp.  203-308. 


11 


' 


I 


(  ! 


f]       !.:. 


.^M 


2oa 


CflRISTlAjV  MISSIOXS  AKD  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


in  South  Africa,  it  would  be  pleasant  reading  for  every  Christian  heart. 
'I'lie  missionary  magazines  of  the  societies  laboring  there  contain  many 
articles  bearing  upon  this  theme.*  In  some  sections  of  the  West  Coast 
native  legislation  has  been  instituted  for  the  protection  of  woman  and 
the  elevation  of  her  status  in  society.  An  illustration  of  this  appears 
in  a  letter  from  Mrs.  R.  H.  De  Heer,  of  Benito,  West  Africa.  The 
incident  is  well  worth  recording  as  something  new  in  the  State  records 
of  an  .African  chieftain.^  Native  women  of  refined  and  gentle  spirits 
and  devoted  lives,  who  are  serving  Christ  and  doing  good  among  their 
countrywomen,  are  found  in  these  old  haunts  of  savagery.  No  happier 
example  of  this  can  be  mentioned  than  Mrs.  Crowther,  the  wife  of 
Archdeacon  Crowther,  concerning  whose  work  Bishop  Tugwell  has 
written  in  terms  of  high  commendation.' 

1  Cf.  files  of  Thi  ChnmicU,  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  The  Mis- 
sionary Record, The  FreeChiirchof  Scotland  Monthly,  TheChurchof  Scotland  Home  and 
Foreign  Mission  Record,  The  Christian  Fxprcssol  Lovetlale,  and  The  African  Pioneer. 

'  "  A  few  Hays  ago,  our  Kombe  king  came  down  from  his  headquarters  at  Bat« 
to  hold  the  semiannual  meeting  of  parliament,  and,  after  very  animated  discussions, 
three  or  four  new  laws  were  promulgated,  all  hearing  upon  the  improvement  of  the 
condition  of  women.  Some  of  the  Christian  representatives  were  in  favor  of  having 
payment  of  dowry,  which  means  purchase  of  wives  to  be  held  as  slaves,  entirely 
abolished.  Others  felt  that  the  mass  of  the  people  were  not  yet  prepared  for  the 
innovation,  and  the  attempt  to  enforce  such  a  law  might  only  lead  to  rebellion.  So 
it  was  decided  that  the  amount  of  dowry  should  be  somewhat  decreased,  and  that  no 
more  infants  should  be  betrothed  to  grown  men.  They  are  to  be  left  free  until  they 
have  attained  an  age  when  they  are  supposed  to  be  capable  of  making  choice  for 
themselves. 

"  Then,  heretofore,  it  has  been  a  law,  as  binding  as  that  of  the  Medes  and  Per- 
sians, that  in  case  a  man  dies  his  wife  must  be  inherited,  like  his  other  property, 
and  compelled  to  marry  such  member  of  the  deceased  husband's  family  as  shall  be 
decided  upon  in  council  by  the  male  relatives,  irrespective  of  any  choice  on  her  part. 
If  the  woman  should  have  sufficient  spirit  to  rebel,  she  would  be  ostracized  at  once, 
and  looked  upon  as  a  suspicious  character.  This  custom  has  been  a  sore  stumbling- 
block  to  church-members,  who  have  come  under  discipline  again  and  again  for 
marrying  polyganiists  by  whom  they  were  inherited ;  and  in  other  cases  where  they 
refused,  they  were  subjected  to  real  persecution. 

"  The  new  law  provides  that  in  such  cases  women  shall  be  left  free  to  make  their 
own  election,  whether  to  remain  in  the  family  of  the  deceased  husband,  seek  some 
other  agreeable  alliance,  or  remain  even  as  they  are.  Of  course,  if  one  leaves  the 
family,  the  dowry  paid  will  have  to  be  returned,  or  a  portion  of  it,  according  to  the 
length  of  her  service  with  her  former  owners.  Narrow  as  this  liberty  may  seem,  it 
means  much  in  comparison  with  former  bondage,  and  will,  we  hope,  open  the  way 
for  perfect  freedom.  Oiir present  king  is  a  Christian,  a  member  of  our  charch,  and 
so  far  as  his  light  goes  he  will  be  in  favor  of  reform."—  Woman' t  Work  for  Woman, 
January,  1897,  pp.  8,  9. 

'    The  Illustrated  Missionary  Nezvs,  November,  1897,  p.  186. 


I.H:: 


III 
i.'ii 


i  ^ 


THE  SOCIAL   H ESI- US  Oh   MISSIOXS 


ao7 


In  the  IsUndN  of  the  Pacific  we  have  the  tame  charming  and 
iii!«piring  story  of  rescued  womanhood  introduced  into  a  happier  and 
nobler  lif-,  and  given  a  more  worthy  place  of  use- 
fulness  in  society.  The  extreme  and  brutal  de-  ur,  ig,  rtacuad  woman- 
basement  whicli  was  once  the  lot  of  woman  among  ''•^ '"  •''•  '•>•"*•  •' 
those  savage  ii^landers  makes  the  change  seem 
to  come  slowly,  but  it  becomes  all  the  more  conspicuous  on  that  ac- 
count. In  order  to  be  appreciated,  careful  note  must  be  made  of 
traditional  conditions  of  savagery  and  humiliation.  Even  quite  re- 
cently Dr.  Montgomery,  the  Bishop  of  Tasmania,  in  writing  of  a  visit 
in  1892  to  the  Santa  Cruz  group,  speaks  of  a  sad  fact  which  he 
observed  in  those  islands,  namely,  their  ill  treatment  of  t  le  women. 
"  Nowhere  else  in  Melanesia,"  he  writes,  "did  I  notice  ti.e  degrada- 
tion of  the  women  as  in  this  spot.  They  were  never  seen  with  the 
men,  but  kept  to  themselves  entirely,  and  if  any  of  them  passed  a  man 
they  were  compelled  to  turn  their  backs  or  throw  a  covering  over  their 
faces.  Here  also  the  women  did  all  the  hard  work  in  the  yam-gardrns, 
and  carried  the  loads,  while  the  men  attended  to  the  weaving  at  the 
looms.  The  women  looked  broken  down  and  degraded,  while  the  men 
were  noted  for  their  magnificent  bearing  and  fine  physique."  He  tes- 
tifies, however,  to  the  influence  of  mission  schools  in  securing  a  differ- 
ent treatment  of  the  women,  and  speaks  especially  of  the  example  of 
Christians  in  showing  them  consideration  and  kindness.*  "  Nothing  is 
so  revolutionary  as  Christianity,"  writes  the  Rev.  VV.  W.  Gill.  "  Women, 
utteriy  downtrodden  in  heathenism,  are  to-day  quite  able  to  hold  their 
own  in  Christian  Polynesia,  and  doubtless  the  same  change  will  take 
place  in  New  Guinea  as  the  Gospel  wins  its  way."  * 

In  those  islands  wh^re  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  English 
and  Australian  Wesleyans,  and  the  American  Board  have  established  their 
missions,  the  progress  in  female  education  is  a  cheering  aspect  of  the 
results  observed.  Such  institutions  as  the  Girls'  Central  School  ( L.  M .  S.j 
at  Papauta,  Upolu,  the  Girls'  Boarding  School  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.)  at 
Kusaie,  in  the  Caroline  Islands,  and  the  facilities  for  female  education 
in  the  Hawaiian  group,  all  indicate  that  this  department  of  mission 
work  has  not  been  neglected.  Special  attention  in  th  case  of  Hawaii 
should  be  directed  to  the  faithful  labors  of  missionaries  like  Miss  Maria 
C.  Ogden  (1827-74),  of  whom  it  is  recorded  that  a  thousand  native 
girls  and  young  women  had  come  under  her  personal  influence.  Did 
she  dream  then  that  siie  was  training  the  mothers  of  future  citizens  of 

1  Montgomery,  "  The  Light  of  Melanesia,"  pp.  127,  128. 
*  Gill,  "  From  Darkness  to  Light  in  Polynesia,"  p.  383. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL   PROGRESS 


the  United  States,  and  would  eventually  bequeath  an  endowment  of 
Christian  heredity  as  a  free  gift  to  her  native  land  ?  In  an  article  by  the 
Rev.  A.  S.  Twombly,  D.D.,  on  native  Christian  women  in  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  a  striking  tribute  to  the  early  power  of  missions  is  given,  and 
even  since  the  days  of  heathen  reaction  the  permanent  fruits  of  Chris- 
tianity are  clearly  manifest.*  From  the  New  Hebrides  a  missionary 
correspondent  writes :  "  The  women  are  now  better  treated,  and,  war 
having  ceased  with  the  presence  of  the  Gospel,  the  men  are  engaged 
in  agriculture,  fishing,  and  peaceful  occupations,  so  that  the  women 
have  less  hard  manual  labor.  Polygamy  and  immorality  are  difficult 
to  eradicate,  but  the  former  is  banished  among  Christians,  while  immoral- 
ity is  greatly  lessened."  ^ 

In  the  West  Indies  missionary  effort  has  brought  about  hopeful  ref- 
ormation in  the  status  of  woman.  Training-schools  have  been  founded 
„„       ,  by  the  Moravians  and  the  American  Friends,  while 

Efforts  for  female  edu-       ,      ^,     .     .  ... 

cation  in  the  West      the  Christian  churches  established  there,  themselves 
Indies,  Mexico,  and      t^g  fruits  of  Colonial  and  foreign  missions,  and 

South  America.  .  ,    ,  .  . 

some  of  them  with  large  constituencies,  are  giving 
careful  attention  to  the  educational  department  of  their  home  missionary 
efforts.  Village  schools  for  girls  are  conducted  in  many  places  under 
the  direction  of  both  home  and  foreign  mission  agencies.^  In  the 
sphere  of  social  morals  the  one  fact  that  legal  marriage  was  virtually 
unknown  among  the  Negroes  of  Jamaica  when  missions  entered  the 
island,  and  that  now  forty  per  cent,  of  the  births  among  them  are  legiti- 
mate, is  itself  clear  evidence  that  Christian  instruction  is  checking  the 
evils  of  immorality.  In  Mexico  and  Central  and  South  America  the 
introduction  of  educational  facilities  for  girls  is  largely  due  to  Protes- 

1  "  New  schools  for  girls  are  springing  up,  notably  the  large  boarding-school 
established  last  year  by  the  Bishop  fund.  If  the  race,  as  such,  is  doomed  to  extinc- 
tion within  the  next  fifty  years,  as  some  afhrm,  if  the  half-whites  are  to  take  the 
places  of  the  natives,  and  if  it  be  true  that  there  has  been  a  downward  tendency 
during  the  last  generation  in  morality  and  religion,  all  friends  of  missions  may  well 
congratulate  themselves  that  Christianity  has  not  been  a  failure,  so  far  as  it  has  been 
allowed  to  assert  itself  against  evil  foreign  influences  in  the  absence  of  missionary 
supervision.  It  still  remains  a  potent  power  for  good,  holding  back  the  native 
woman  from  superstition  and  heathen  practices,  and  setting  a  standard  for  conscience. 
Many  a  Christian  Hawaiian  woman  would  stand  foremost  among  American  church- 
members  for  consistency  of  conduct  and  firmness  in  resisting  peculiar  tendencies  and 
temptations.  Some  remarkable  examples  of  true  and  saintly  lives  have  come  to  my 
knowledge."  — Zz/t-aW  Light  for  Woman,  June,  1895,  p.  260. 

2  Rev.  William  Gunn,  M.D.  (F.  C.  S.),  Futuna,  New  Hebrides. 

3  Caldecott,  ' '  The  Church  of  the  West  Indies  "  (an  excellent  manual,  written 
in  a  fine  spirit  of  catholicity). 


11 


THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


209 


tant  missions.'  This  is  especially  true  among  the  lower  races.  In  many 
States  of  .uth  America  and  in  Mexico  fine  institutions  have  been 
established.  If  the  power  which  Protestant  missions  have  had  in 
stimulating  the  whole  system  of  government  education  in  Mexico  were 
fully  known,  much  honor  would  be  accorded  to  them  as  a  leading  in- 
fluence in  favor  of  female  education. 


2.  Restraining  Polygamy  and  Concubinage.— The  insistence  of 
missions  upon  the  monogamous  precepts  of  the  N'ew  Testament  is  a  ser- 
vice in  the  interest  of  domestic  happiness  and 
harmony  which  is  of  priceless  import  to  non-   Grappling  with  darling 
Christian  society.     It  has  been  the  policy  of  the       »int  of  the  Orient. 
great  Oriental  religions  either  boldly  to  sanction  or 
quietly  to  condone  polygamy,  concubinage,  and  divorce  at  will.     These 
are  dariing  sins  of  the  Eastern  world,  and  in  the  social  code  of  savages 
they  are  commonplace  incidents.     Christianity  teaches  another  law, 
and  teaches  it  without  any  qualifications.     "  And  they  twain  shall  be 
one  flesh  "  expresses  our  Lord's  view  upon  the  subject. 

While  this  is  true,  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  tiie  inquiry  as  to  the 
proper  attitude  of  Christian  missions  towards  polygamy  is  not  free  from 
embarrassments.  The  problem  is  one  with  which  missionaries  have 
struggled,  and  upon  which  they  show  a  divided  front ;  although  none 
of  them  would  be  willing  to  tolerate  polygamy  as  a  Christian  institu- 
tion, or  to  allow  professing  Christians  to  marrj-  more  than  one  wife. 
There  is  also  unanimity  among  them  in  the  opinion  that  no  polygamist 
should  ever  be  allowed  to  take  office  of  any  grade  in  the  Christian 
Church,  that  no  further  marriage  should  be  contracted  by  a  polygamist 
who  has  been  once  baptized,  and  that  in  ,he  case  of  the  death  of  one 
of  his  wives  he  should  not  be  at  liberty  to  marry  another  in  her  place. 
The  parting  of  the  ways  among  them  begins  with  the  question  of  the 
admission  of  polygamous  converts  to  the  Church.  Some  would  admit 
to  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ;  others  only  to  bap- 
tism ;  while  there  are  still  others  who  would  deny  them  either  ordinance, 

>  "The  women  in  a  certain  sense  are  not  degraded,  and  yet  in  another  they  are, 
as  they  have  not  their  rightful  place.  Until  the  entrance  of  the  missionaries  into  the 
country,  it  had  not  been  considered  necessary  or  desirable  to  educ.ite  the  daughters. 
Consequently  there  are  numbers  of  middle-aged  wnmen  of  ample  means  and  good 
social  standing  who  ca.i  scarcely  ead  or  write.  Now  it  is  regarded  as  quite  impor- 
tant to  give  the  daughters  the  same  advantages  that  the  sons  enjoy. "-Miss  Char- 
lotte Kemper  (P.  B.  F.  M.  S.),  Lavras,  Brazil. 


f:' 


iiri 


210  CHJilSTIAJ,  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PHOGHESS 

exaction  of  a  monogamous  family  life  as 
c.  Ch„.„„  „,..,„.  f"  ™P"--"'™  '''"■and  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  yet 
«=mpcomi.t  wiib      "  *''"=  '°  '"e  author  to  be  the  burden  of  Serin 
p..y..„„  tm-e,  and  the  only  sound  policy  in  missions,  nevei 

CMtrch,  or  the  ..i.y  ard'pIt'y^rjmX-Lf  f  '.1;:  ^:^ 

fir.  adherence  to  the  ru,e  of  not  baptizing  po,ygatnfstf  S  worth;  o1 

"The  Gospel  Message,"  pp  26,  ^oT     Ih  M  T"''  '"  '"''  ""'""'^  «=»«'"^d 

accompanies  these  artles^   Cf  aNo  r>i  t     •"°'''';'  °'  "'"'""*'  °"  ^'"=  "''i«' 
March.  ApH,,  a„„  Ma,.  .^"^Srs^AtRr^  t'S£'  '^-^'J  ''''--^' 
Applicants:    M'hat    Missionaries   Think   Should  Be' L^wTth' Th        °T"^^^ 
Missions  and  Science "  fTh<-  FI„  v«i        ^  o  '"  ^^^^    '  Laurie, 

ference.  London,  .«8    ■•    o^     i    '^       S^'-V^'  "f  ?"'  °'  '"^  ^^'"'-  ^°"- 
of  the  Anglican  Communion,    C'-CGer'^e  ATot^t  '''"'^""^  ^°"^^^'="^' 

Kellogg.  D.  D    on  "  The  Rnn,;        f  d  ,      '     "^    '    ^*'  ^""^'^  '^X  'he  Rev.  S.  H. 
/'..4:v.«  ^'^r,  J  J^t'  r.sl '^^^^^^^  No„.Christia„  Lands  ";  7^,, 

exegetica,  interpreta  io    1  "  xt    'f^;  "^      I     .     T  ^^  ^^  '''^^''^''^'  °"  '»>« 
Wife  "  ;  Th,  .Lnthly  AUsJZn^P     T.  '  ""'  "  '^'"^  ""^^''^^J  "^  0« 

1897.  p.  270.  -^  ^    '^"^  ^"''h'tertan  Church  of  England,  October. 


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TUE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


ij  '   >  * 
211 


note.i  It  appears  to  a  plain  student  of  the  Bible  almost  beyond  dis- 
pute that  the  Church  of  Christ  cannot  recognize  a  man  while  still  a 
polygamist  as  a  member  of  Christ's  body.^  Such  a  step  would  create 
a  perilous  state  of  uncertainty  as  to  the  inviolability  of  the  moral  pre- 
cepts of  Christianity,  and  open  the  door  to  a  plausible  advocacy  of 
the  suspension  of  Christian  standards  wherever  expediency  seemed  to 

justify  it. 

The  supposed  authorization  for  the  admission  of  polygamists  to 
the  Church  is  based  upon  an  inference  drawn  from  the  instruction  of 
Paul  to  Timothy  ( I  Tim.  iii.  2,  12)  that  "  a  bishop  then  must  be  blame- 
less, the  husband  of  one  wife."    This  is  interpreted  as  implying  beyond 
reasonable  doubt  that  there  were  men  of  good  and  regular  standing 
in  the  Church  of  that  day  who  possessed  more  than  one  wife.     Can 
this  exegesis,  built  upon  inference  or  implication,  be  sustained  in  this 
case?     Surely  not,  if  it  is  opposed  to  the  plain  teachings  of  Scripture 
elsewhere,  and  still  less  is  it  allowable  if  another  explanation  of  the  in- 
tent of  the  command  is  possible  which  would  be  in  harmony  with  Scripture 
and  the  historic  environment  of  the  passage.     This  harmony  with  the 
biblical  context  and  the  contemporary  facts  is  maintained  if  we  under- 
stand the  directions  of  Paul  as  meaning  simply  that  a  bishop  must  have 
a  clean  record  in  regard  to  the  temporary  alliances  so  common  in  that 
age.     He  must  not  have  married  several  women  in  succession,  divorc- 
ing them  one  after  another,  as  was  the  custom  with  many.     He  must 
be  known  as  "  the  husband  of  one  wife,"  to  v.'hom  he  has  been  faithful, 
and  with  whom  his  relations  are  holy  and  honorable.     No  man,  even 
though  he  was  at  the  time  a  convert  in  the  Church  and  was  virtuous 
and  true  in  his  conduct,  was  to  be  a  bishop  if  he  had  a  trail  of  divorces 
in  his  previous  history  and  was  surrounded  by  women  who  were  once 
his  wives.     In  the  light  of  this  interpretation  the  propriety  of  the  re- 
quirement becomes  at  once  manifest  as  a  preventive  of  scandal,  and 
as  necessary  to  the  "  blameless  "  moral  standing  of  one  who  bears  office 
in  the  Christian  Church.     It  is  as  applicable  to  church  life  to-day  as  it 
was  in  Paul's  time.   We  are  sure  that  this  problem  in  our  mission  fields,  if 

I  "  Life  of  Bishop  Maples,"  pp.  71.  75.  265,  303-  Cf.  also  Bryce,  "  Impres- 
sions of  South  Africa,"  p.  389. 

»  This  rule  need  not  be  applied  necessarily  to  the  wife  of  a  polygamist,  smce 
she  is  not  always  in  that  category,  and  should  not  be  held  responsible  for  the  sins  of 
her  husband.  The  late  Bishop  Crowther  wrote:  "  We  treat  a  woman  who  is  a  wife 
of  a  polygamist  as  innocent,  as  she  has  no  wish  that  her  husband  should  have  more 
wives  than  one,  and  it  is  a  subject  over  which  she  has  no  control.  She  is  treated  in 
the  Church,  therefore,  as  a  wife  having  only  one  husband.  We  do  not  propose  a 
separation  if  she  dcttrn.".ac!.  to  be  faithful  to  her  unbelieving  husband." 


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212 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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dealt  with  in  a  wise,  cautious,  and  sympathetic  spirit,  can  be  so  solved 
as  to  minimize  the  hardship,  and  yet  preserve  the  principle  at  stake. 

The  author's  experience  as  a  missionary  has  taught  him  to  appreci- 
ate the  difficulties  of  this  class  of  problems,  and  to  sympathize  with 
the  desire  to  spare  a  new  convert  the  stress  and  strain  of  all  needless 
suffering.  It  has  also  made  it  plain  to  him  that  it  is  possible  to  allow  an 
undue  or  too  decisive  weight  to  the  fact  that  personal  sacrifice  and  trial 
to  the  convert  are  often  implied  in  the  upholding  of  Christian  ideals. 
If  in  some  instances  hardships  which  missionaries  might  well  shrink 
from  exacting  are  involved  in  maintaining  biblical  standards  intact, 
on  the  other  hand  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  good  name  of  the 
Church  must  be  preserved  and  right  principles  maintained,  or  great  and 
manifold  evils  will  inevitably  follow.  Christian  missions  have  not  only 
to  sustain  the  law  of  Christ  in  this  matter,  but  they  must  act  in  view  of  the 
indubitable  fact  that  monogamy  is  an  essential  condition  of  well-ordered 
society.  As  Bishop  Westcott  has  remarked :  "  Marriage  is  the  divine 
pattern  and  crown  of  human  communities,  the  original  sacrament  of 
completed  manhood."  It  is  one  of  the  primal  institutions  of  human 
history,  established,  as  we  believe,  with  its  monogamous  limitation,  by 
the  Creator  Himself.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  Cust,  it  is  "  at  once  the 
gratification  of  a  legitimate  and  holy  wish,  the  machinery  of  a  holy  life, 
and  the  divinely  ordained  method  of  perpetuating  a  holy  people." 
Polygamy  is  utterly  and  hopelessly  at  variance  with  these  ideas.  Upon 
this  aspect  of  the  subject,  however,  there  surely  can  be  no  difference 
of  opinion  among  Christian  missionaries. 

What  seems  to  be  the  true  attitude  of  missions  towards  this  question 
may  be  described  as  a  combination  of  official  rigor  with  informal  per- 
sonal kindliness  and  leniency  towards  those  who  are 
The  true  wMMftMrtrendi  involved  in  the  entanglements  of  polvRamv.     The 

between  the  Church  and  .    .  °  i      /  o       j 

polygamous  converts.  Chnstian  Church  should  withhold  official  recog- 
nition of  a  polygamist  as  an  accepted  member  of 
its  communion.  It  should  not  even  baptize  him.  If,  however,  he  is 
inclined  to  religious  fellowship  with  God's  people,  he  should  be  treated 
with  social  respect  and  kindly  sympathy,  and  admitted  to  the  privileges 
of  instruction  and  worship.  While  the  door  into  regular  membership 
ought  not  to  be  opened,  the  hand  and  heart  of  the  Church  should  reach  to 
the  outer  court  of  social  and  religious  friendliness,  and  there  minister  in 
the  spirit  of  Christ  to  all  such.  The  problem  is  one  which  man  cannot 
eliminate.  God  only  can  solve  it  in  His  providence  and  His  grace. 
The  Church  in  her  sphere  and  the  polygamist  in  his  must  wait  with 
patience  for  a  solution  such  as  sovereign  wisdom  and  power  alone  can 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


318 


secure.  In  cases  where  a  polygamist  voluntarily  has  put  away  all  but 
one  wife,  and  is  living  in  accordance  with  Christian  law,  there  seems 
to  be  no  clear  reason  why  baptism  and  communion  should  be  denied 
him,  if  he  is  otherwise  worthy  of  admission  to  the  Church. 

This  statement,  however,  may  be  qualified  in  several  particulars. 
The  separation  should  not  be  compulsory,  in  defiance  of  the  legitimate 
rights  -^nd  wishes  of  his  wives,  ignoring  obligations  he  has  assumed, 
and  depriving  his  wives  and  children  of  their  legal  status.     In  organ- 
ized society,  such  as  we  find  in  India,  where  the  British  Government 
recognizes  the  legality  of  more  than  one  wife,  this  rule  is  applicable, 
far  more  so  than  among  less  civilized  tribes,  where  marriage  customs 
are  governed  by  tradition  and  usage  rather  than  by  legal  regulations. 
If  the  separation   can  be  accomplished   only  as  an   arbitrary  and 
coercive  act,  then  the  parties  should  bide  their  time  outside  the  visible 
Church.     Once  more,  this  severance  should  not  imply  a  refusal  to  ex- 
tend support,  protection,  and  kindly  treatment  to  wives  and  children 
from  whom  the  candidate  has  separated.     If  these  conditions  are  com- 
plied with,  no  hardship  or  privation  of  an  unchristian  kind  is  involved  in 
the  transaction.     Honorable  obligations  are  not  repudiated,  and  no 
wrong  is  done  in  the  name  of  religion.     A  polygamist  would  expect  to 
support  his  wives  if  he  continued  to  live  in  heathenism,  and  it  is  no 
harsh  requirement  for  him  to  do  it  as  a  matter  of  justice  and  honor  if 
he  embraces  Christianity.    As  regards  the  choice  of  one  wife  with 
whom  he  shall  maintain  lawful  relations,  it  is  not  absolutely  essential 
that  it  should  be  in  all  cases  the  first  one  to  whom  he  was  married. 
This  rule  may  be  elastic,  and  may  vary  in  different  circumstances  and 
countries.     The  first  marriage  may  have  been  a  forced  one  at  a  pre- 
mature age,  and  so  be  destitute  of  the  real  essence  of  Christian  mar- 
riage, which  involves  a  free,  intelligent,  and  responsible  choice. 

It  is  evident  then,  that  a  man  who  would  become  a  Christian  and 
enter  the  Church  is  bound  by  the  law  of  the  Bible  and  by  the  unvary- 
ing custom  of  Christian  living  to  break  with  polyg- 
amy.    He  must  disentangle  himself,  and  begin  a  bre.k  with  poiyeamy 
life  over  again  on  a  new  basis,  in  the  light  of  Bible  imperativt. 

teachings,  and  in  accord  with  Scripture  standards. 
The  introduction  of  polygamous  hoi  ^holds  into  the  Church  would  re- 
quire startling  and  dangerous  concessions,  and  establis...  a  demoralizing 
precedent.  It  is  of  the  first  importance  that  evangelical  churches  in 
mission  lands  should  begin  rightly  in  this  matter ;  otherwise  they  will  be- 
come involved  in  a  painful  and  needless  struggle  with  subtle  questions 
of  casuistrj'  which  they  will  be  unable  to  solve.     That  they  are  incapa- 


iHi 


\\. 


214 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


ill 


ble  of  dealing  with  it  aright,  in  the  light  of  their  own  wisdom  and  in 
the  atmosphere  of  their  traditional  environment,  is  only  too  evident. 
The  formation  of  a  polygamous  party  in  mission  churches  would  in- 
volve the  grave  possibility,  if  not  probability,  of  eventually  so  chang- 
ing the  standards  of  Christian  living  that  the  Church  itself  would 
become  a  polygamous  institution.^  An  illustration  of  this  tendency  is 
reported  from  West  Africa.'  Firm  and  true  counsel  in  their  formative 
period  is  what  the  churches  need.  A  temporizing  and  non-committal 
evasion  of  the  issue  would  end  in  a  distinct  loss  of  moral  prestige  and 
spiritual  influence.  The  words  of  Professor  Warneck  upon  this  subject 
are  to  be  commended :  "  Although  theoretically  something  may  be  said 
for  a  degree  of  tolerance  of  polygamy  in  a  period  of  transition,  on  the 
ground  of  apostolic  example,  yet  practically  this  forbearance  has  been 
of  no  use,  but  at  the  commencement  of  missions  the  axe  was  laid  at  the 
root  of  polygamy  as  a  practice  absolutely  irreconcilable  with  the  Gos- 
pel. That  has  naturally  had  many  harsh  and  disadvantageous  conse- 
quences, especially  as  the  acceptance  of  Christianity  by  a  chieftain  has 
been  now  and  again  prevented ;  but  it  has  had  the  great  advantage  that 
the  path  has  been  cleared,  and  the  heathen  regard  the  establishment  of 
monogamy  as  the  manifest  and  necessary  consequence  of  the  accep- 
tance of  Christianity."  ' 

In  India,  China,  Japan,  Africa,  and  all  Moslem  countries,  this 
question  confronts  Christian  missions  on  die  threshold.  The  law  of  one 
wife,  with  the  further  demand  of  absolute  fidelity  to  marriage  vows,  is 
a  hard  saying  to  the  disciples  of  heathen  culture.  It  either  repels 
them  by  its  rigorous  standards,  or  it  forces  them  into  a  dilemma  which 
is  especially  difHcult  in  the  moral  and  social  atmosphere  of  non- 
Christian  traditions.     Sometimes  all  that  missions  can  accomplish  for 

1  "  If  polygamists  are  admitted  into  the  Church,  the  system  will  not  soon  be 
abolished ;  the  act  will  give  the  Mohammedans  reason  to  triumph,  and  declare  that 
their  religion  is  better  than  Christianity,  which  would  seem  to  be  changeable  in  its 
teachings  and  doctrine.  The  heathen  will  affirm  that  the  life  of  polygamy  as  prac- 
tised by  their  forefathers  was  suitable  to  them,  and  needs  no  change.  The  heathen 
young  men  v  ould  take  advantage  of  this,  and  wait  till  they  had  married  many  wives, 
and  then  apply  to  be  received  into  the  Church ;  if  their  fathers  could  be  received  as 
such,  why  should  not  they?  The  infidels,  who  are  numer>  us  about  this  coast,  and 
live  ungodly  lives,  would  say  to  the  heathen  population,  Diu  not  we  tell  you  that  the 
new  religion  is  not  consistent  in  its  teachings?  Hence  we  would  not  practise  it. 
You  see  we  are  right  in  our  belief  and  practice  after  all."— Extract  from  the  late 
Bishop  Crowther's  "  Papers  on  African  Missions." 

3  Cust,  "  Notes  on  Missionary  Subjects,"  essay  on  "  Polygamy  in  Christian 
Churches,"  p.  1 1. 

3  Warneck,  "  Missions  and  Culture,"  p.  i8o. 


liii 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS  215 

a  generation  or  more  is  to  let  the  light  of  biblical  teaching  and  influ- 
ence shine,  and  introduce  the  example  of  monogamous  family  life. 
There  is  a  quiet  power  in  this,  and  when  communities  of  Christian 
families  begin  to  appear,  intelligent  natives  commence  to  wrestle  with 
a  new  sociological  problem,  often  with  a  penetration  and  insight  which 
are  far  in  advance  of  their  reai'iness  to  conform  in  practice  to  what  in 
theory  is  a  matter  of  clear  conviction. 

Let  us  plunge  at  once  into  the  most  hopeless  environment  of  un- 
restrained license,  and  see  if  Christian  missions  have  yet  modified  to 
any  extent  the  native  customs  of  African  society. 
"  When  I  first  visited  Uganda,"  says  the  Rev.  R.  P.     African  communitiei 
Ashe,  "it  was  a  shame  to  a  man  not  to  have  a  ■"!'".«!.' mo7.u"°" 
great  following,  and  a  large  number  of  women 
who  were  cultivators  of  ihe  soil,  and  therefore  a  sign  of  wealth ;  now  in 
Uganda  it  is  a  shame  for  a  man  to  have  more  than  one  wife."'»     The 
story  of  how  good  Bishop  Mackenzie  founded  a  Christian  community 
m  Central  Africa  upon  the  hitherto  unheard-of  basis  of  monogamy  is 
told  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Rowley,  in  his  volume  on  Central  Africa.2 
Dr.  W.  A.  Elmslie,  in  a  letter  from  British  Central  Africa,  reports  the 
breaking  up  of  polygamous  connections  among  those  of  the  Angoni 
who  have  come  under  mission  instruction.     The  movement  called  forth 
much  persecution,  but  the  monogamous  principle  has  triumphed,  the 
natives  themselves  adopting  it.-"     The  Rev.  A.  G.  MacAlpine,  of  Ban- 
dawe,  m  the  Livingstonia  Mission,  writes  of  the  renunciation  of  polygamy 
and  slavery  by  the  Christian  community  of  that  place,  with  the  happy 
result  that  the  practice  was  unanimously  condemned  and  repudiated  by 
the  native  church  itself.*    The  Rev.  F.  Coillard,  of  the  French  Evangel- 

1   The  Chunk  Missionary  Intelligencer,  April,  1894,  p.  282. 

«  Rowley,  "  Twenty  Years  in  Central  Africa,"  pp.  66-68. 

»  The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Monthly,  December,  1896,  p.  294 

«  Mr.  M.icA!pine-s  statement  is  as  follows:  "  On  Thursday.  April  2,  1896.  we 
had  a  meetmg  for  the  discussion  of  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  three  questions 
which  come  up  again  .  d  again  in  our  work-P.,lygamy.  Beer,  and  Slavery 
A\  e  sat  for  five  hours,  and  adjourned,  to  meet  again  in  the  afternoon.  All  the  mem- 
bers present  wrote  their  answers  to  the  following  questions  :  ( i )  Do  you  believe  these 
practices  to  be  right  or  wrong?  (2)  What  is  your  action  in  the  matter?  and  (5) 
\Vhat  about  candidates  for  church-membership?  The  third  question,  on  the  subWt 
of  slavery,  was  divided  into  two  parts- Have  you  any  slaves?  and.  What  do  you  in- 
tend  doing  with  them?  On  these  points  the  Church  maintained  the  Christian  atti- 
tude  and  declared  emphatically  its  opposition  to  all  three;  that,  for  itself,  it  h.d 
abandoned  them  utterly,  and  that  none  shouM  be  adn.itted  to  church-membership 
whose  oract.ce  was  not  in  keeping  with  the  Church's  declaration  on  these  subjects." 
-yuotcU  in  Tue  Christian  Express,  December,  1896,  p.  183. 


:    \ 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  A.\D  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


il 

^1 


ical  Mission  on  the  Upper  Zambesi,  reports  that  the  native  conscience  has 
awakened  in  the  matter  of  polygamy.  Khama,  the  Christian  king,  has 
never  consented  to  become  the  possessor  of  more  than  one  wife,  al- 
though his  royal  position  and  the  invariable  custom  of  his  country  would 
make  him  an  unrestricted  polygamist.*  It  is  the  testimony  of  the  Hon.  A. 
Wilmot  that  in  Khama's  territory  Christianity  has  had  the  effect  o'  put- 
ting an  end  to  polygamy.*  Among  the  Bechuanas  it  has  been  the  curse 
of  their  social  system.  A  recent  communication  from  the  Rev.  Alfred 
S.  Sharp,  of  Mafeking,  says  that  "the  system  is  doomed.  It  is  pecu- 
liarly interesting  to  observe  how  the  spread  of  Christianity  offers  an 
insurmountable  barrier  to  its  progress,  and  threatens  its  very  exist- 
ence. .  .  .  Moreover,  there  is  a  growing  distrust  of  the  system ;  tiie 
light  of  the  Gospel  has  shown  that  it  is  incompatible  with  the  higher 
life  after  which  the  people  are  struggling,  and,  indeed,  this  very  struggle 
is  in  itself  a  war  against  the  practice,  and  as  it  increases  polygamy  must 
vanish."'  In  Pondoland  the  prime  minister  of  one  of  the  prominent 
chiefs  proved  his  faith  by  his  works  when  he  renounced  heathenism, 
since  he  paid  off  his  debts,  made  restitution  for  all  money  purloined, 
and  gave  up  his  seven  wives,  retaining  only  the  one  to  whom  he  was 
first  married.* 

We  can  but  feebly  comprehend  the  hard  and  exhausting  contest  of 
pioneer  missionaries  in  the  dark  recesses  of  African  savagery  with  such 
a  dominant  social  evil  as  unrestricted  polygamy.*  We  find  in  the  pa- 
pers of  the  late  Bishop  Crowther,  kindly  furnished  to  the  author  by  his  son. 


1  Hepburn,  "  Twenty  Years  in  Khama's  Country,"  p.  140. 

2  Wilmot,  "  The  Expansion  of  South  Africa,"  Introductory  Note,  p.  xxiv. 
>   Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  February,  1893,  p.  62. 

«  Ibid.,  October,  1894,  p.  409. 

*  The  late  Dr.  Good  writes  of  the  Bule,  an  interior  tribe  of  the  Gaboon  Mission, 
on  the  West  Coast :  "  Polygamy  is  terribly  prevalent,  and  in  all  this  region  it  is  the 
substitute  for  slavery.  The  sole  idea  in  marriage  is  ownership,  and  the  condition  of 
woman  is  that  of  a  slave.  It  is  the  ambition  of  every  Bule  man  to  marry  at  least 
twenty  or  thirty  women ;  the  number  of  his  wives  determines  his  rank.  Some  chiefs 
have  sixty  or  eighty.  If  a  man  has  many  wives  he  need  not  work,  for  they  will  keep 
his  stomach  full,  and  he  can  sit  in  the  village  palaver-house  and  smoke  in  blissful 
idleness  all  his  days-  This  is  the  Bule's  idea  of  perfect  happiness."— JF<»/«</«'j 
Work  for  Woman,  June,  1893,  p.  162. 

Another  missionary  from  the  Congo  Valley  writes :  "  Polygamy  makes  it  so  easy 
for  our  young  people  to  go  wrong.  A  chief  will  have  many  wives  whom  he  will 
hire  out.  In  the  eyes  of  the  natives  there  is  no  sin  in  thus  taking  a  wife,  if  the  man 
pays  ;  the  sin  is  in  not  paying.  We  are  having  a  hard  fight  against  these  customs. 
The  marriage  question  is  daily  being  brought  up  to  v.%."— The  Baptist  Missionary 
Magazine,  July,  1894,  p.  357. 


HI 


THE  SOCIAL  XESUirs  OF  M/SS/OXS  217 

Archdetcon  Crowther,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  Mission  in  the 
Niger  Delta,  »ome  information  concerning  the  early  mission  policy 
favored  by  the  bishop.     "  We  do  not  tolerate  polygamy  in  this  our 
mission,"  he  writes,  "  whether  the  person  be  influential  or  not,  or 
whether  he  be  rich  or  poor.     With  the  influential  and  rich  person  the 
renouncing  of  wives  and  retaining  only  one  is  a  test  of  his  sincerity  and 
a  mark  of  that  self-denial  for  Christ's  sake  which  is  required  of  those 
who  are  to  be  new  creatures.     Merely  the  forsaking  of  the  worship  of 
Jdols  can  hardly  be  called  the  test  of  fleshly  lusts  and  appetites."  i     In 
the  Island  of  Madagascar  "polygamy  has  iieariy  disappeared,  and 
divorce  can  only  be  obtained  after  a  proper  trial  before  the  judges.'  a 
This  statement  is  confirmed  by  die  Rev.  James  S-bree  (\..  M.  S.)  who 
writes  from  Antananarivo :  "  Divorce  and  polygamy  are  becoming  more 
and  more  rare." 


>  Other  testimonies  from  the  West  Coast  Missions  are  at  hand 
"  The  greatest  social  change  which  has  been  effected  here  is  the  gradual  elevation 
of  the  people  from  a  state  of  lowest  harharism  to  what  might  he  call,-,l  Christinn 
family  ife.  The  majority  of  our  converts  have  homes  „f  their  own.  an<I  althounh  the 
Ideal  of  domestic  life  perhaps  has  not  l.ecn  fully  realised,  there  is  a  change  in  this 
respect  that  no  one  can  fail  to  see. "-Rev.  Robert  SI.  lieedie  (U.  P  C  S  M  > 
Duke  Town,  Old  Calabar,  West  Africa.  "        '' 

'•  The  polygamy  of  the  Ondos  is  of  the  lowest  character.  It  is  .rssociated  with 
poIy«idry.  and  is  promoted  by  the  custom  of  parents  in  forming  marriage  contracts  for 
U^^ir  daughter,  from  the.r  infancy,  and  there  are  instances  in  which'hey  are  mJe 

mid     tie'"  ""'•'"■""  "'•'■'""  ^'""'^  '"=  '  ^"'^''=-     A*  --  «  .he  contract t 
made,  he  parents  begin  to  receive  dowry  perio.lically.  i„  ,he  shape  of  services,  money 
or  foo<l.  from  the  betrothed  husband,  until  the  girl  becomes  marriageable      lUs  nS 
easy  to  break  through  such  engagements  afterwards.     T  need  notTay   hat  the  J 

o Td  t:  t   "^  "        '"T"'^  ''^"•^"•^-     ■^'-  '"""  -'^  "-'  the'olde  .  veil 
do,  and   great  men    monopolize   all  the  available  women  in  the  county  their 
younger  male  relatives  are  then   permitte.l  to  have  them  as   concubTnes       Th 
ch  Idren  born  to  the  concubines  during  the  husl^nd's  lifetime  are  le  Jly  his    the 
natura^  father  regarding  them  as  brothers  or  sisters,  and  trea.i  g  them  as    'uh 
I  need  not  state  that  the  degradation  of  women,  the  low  state  of'moraTs      nd  tt 

»  Cousins,  "  Ma<lagascar  of  To-day,"  pp.  136,  137 

"  Polygamy  was  the  rule  of  life  among  the  Malagasy,  and  created  envy  jealous v 
and  un,ch  domestic  trouble  and  family  misery.     It  is'now  the  exception   a's'  he     i'l 

would  be  equal  in  America  to  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars. "-Rev.  J.  Pcarse 
(L.  M.  S.),  Fianarantsoa,  Madagascar.  ■' 


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C//X/sr/A.V  A//SS/OXS  ASD  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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A  look  into  the  mission  records  of  the  South  Seas  reveals  the  same 
strong  trend  towards  the  suppression  of  the  evil  under  consideration. 

Those  island  barbarians,  who  were  notorious  polyg- 

A  iMiai  rivoiution  In   amists,  have    experienced    a    social    revolution 

tht  itouth  ttaa.       which  only  the  moral  forces  of  Christianity  could 

produce.  The  Rev.  J.  E.  Newell  (L.  M.  S.),  of 
the  Malua  Institution,  Samoa,  after  enumerating  the  heathen  vices  that 
(>r\ce  prevailed,  asks :  "  What  has  Christianity  done  with  this  condition 
of  life  and  thought?  It  at  once  abnl'shed  polygamy  and  concubinage, 
and  set  its  ban  on  all  the  indecent  iciations  of  the  event  of  marriage. 
It  is  remarkable  how  much  has  been  accomplished  in  this  direction  by 
('hristian  teaching  and  example,  not  only  in  Samoa,  but  in  groups  like 
the  Society  Islands,  where  the  imaginations  of  the  heart  were  utterly 
corrupt  and  vile."  In  describing  the  present  status  in  the  Island  of 
I'utuna,  of  the  New  Hebrides  group,  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Gunn  re- 
ports that  "  Christian  marriage  is  now  recognized  as  the  law  of  the 
island."  *  In  an  account  of  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into 
Mangaia,  in  th<»  Hervey  group,  a  I'escription  is  given  of  how  the 
chiefs,  early  in  the  Christian  history  of  the  island,  "  heartily  acquiesced 
in  the  proposition  to  abolish  polygamy.  The  powerful  chief  Parima, 
who  had  six  wives,  set  the  example  by  putting  away  five."  The  nar- 
rator, the  Rev.  W.  W.  Gill,  adds:  "  By  divorce  these  women  were  not 
condemned  to  want,  as  to  e.-»rh  '•  -  given  a  plot  of  land  with  fruit- 
bearing  trees  on  it,  sufficient  for  her  own  subsistence  and  that  of  her 
children."  2 

Bishop  Montgomer)',  in  a  sketch  of  Christian  progress  in  Florida,  one 
of  the  Solomon  Islands,  quotes  a  paragraph  from  one  of  the  missionarie.>, 
telling  of  the  way  in  which  Bishop  Selwyn  in  his  day  dealt  with  the 
question  of  polygamy,  which  is  interesting  not  only  because  it  shows 
the  tendency  of  mission  influence,  but  also  states  a  fact  which  can  be 
shown  to  be  true,  at  least  in  some  sections  of  the  world,  namely,  that 
the  abolition  of  polygamy  does  not  necessarily  involve  physical  cruelty 
and  hardship.^     Dr.  Paton  makes  similar  statements  concerning  the 

1  The  Free  Church  of  Siothmd  Monthly,  August,  1897,  p.  186. 

2  Gill,  "  From  Darkness  to  Light  in  Polynesia,"  p.  335.  See  also  Home, 
"  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  215. 

^  "  nishop  Selwyn  makes  it  a  sine  qua  non  that  a  polygamist  shall  put  away  all 
but  one  wife  before  he  receives  !)aptisni.  That  this  is  the  right  course  in  Melantsia 
I  cannot  for  a  moment  doubt,  though  the  case  of  the  woman  put  away  is  in  some 
respects  a  hard  one.  .  .  .  But  she  need  not  be  homeless  or  friendless,  or  com- 
pelled to  lead  such  a  life  as  many  of  those  who  take  the  opposite  view  of  this  ques- 
tion assume  to  be  inevitable.  There  are  respectable  people  who  will  give  her  a  home 
for  the  sake  of  her  work,  and  with  such  she  c.in  live.     Many  of  these  women  become 


TItE  SOCIAL  KESILTS  OF  .V/SS/OXS 


•-'10 


comptrative  freedom  from  actual  misery  and  want,  whirh  are  Kupposed 
to  be  usually  associated  with  the  extinction  of  polygamy  in  heathen  coun- 
tries He  writes  that  in  the  New  Hcbriilcs  "  the  heathen  practices  were 
apparently  more  destructive  to  women  than  to  Tien,  so  that  in  one 
island,  with  a  population  of  only  two  hundred,  I  found  that  there  were 
thirty  adult  men  over  and  above  the  number  of  women.  As  a  rule,  for 
the  men  that  have  two  or  more  wives  the  same  number  of  men  have 
no  wives,  and  can  get  none,  and  polygamy  is  therefore  the  prolific 
cause  of  hatreds  and  murders  innumerable."  The  result  has  been  that 
wives  released  from  polygamous  ties  have  easily  found  a  better  mar- 
riage awaiting  them,  in  accordance  with  the  Christian  rule.  "  We  had 
one  chief,"  reports  Dr.  Paton,  "  who  gave  up  eleven  wives  on  being 
baptized.  They  were,  without  a  single  exception,  happily  settled  in 
other  homes."  >  In  another  connection  Mrs.  I'aton  writes :  "  Polygamy 
on  Aniwa  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past.""-!  The  story  of  the  terrible  im- 
morality in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  in  the  days  ;)f  idolatry  and  unre- 
strained heathenism  has  often  been  told.  The  influence  of  Christianity 
was  an  immense  moral  gain,  although  it  has  been  qu.ilified  to  a  sad  extent 
by  the  entrance  of  a  godless  element  through  which  the  vices  rather 
than  the  benefits  of  civilization  have  been  introduced.^ 


Christians,  and  in  the  spiritual  consolation  and  freedom  from  superstitious  fear 
wliich  they  then  enjoy  find  greater  happiness  than  they  ever  had  ..  heathen;  and 
thouj'h  in  their  new  life  there  may  be  somewhat  of  the  hardness  which  Chris- 
tianity atcep's,  yet  :.l;  .vould  not  return  to  the  old  conditions,  so  contrary  to  the 
faith  in  which  they  now  find  peace.  .  .  .  There  remains  the  significant  fact  that 
in  these  particular  islands  a  strong  feeling  exists  in  the  minds  of  the  native  converts 
themselves  against  allowing  a  polygamist  to  receive  baptism;  and  I  feel  sure  that  if 
an  exception  were  once  made,  no  matter  how  hard  the  case  might  appear  at  the  time, 
it  would  set  up  a  precedent  most  dilficult  to  deal  with  in  the  time  to  come."  — Mont- 
gomery, "  The  Light  of  .Melanesia,"  p.  219. 

>  "  Autobiography  of  John  G.   Paton,"  Part  II.,  p.  267. 

In  deprecating  the  criticisms  of  some  who  denounce  the  abolition  of  polygamy 
as  an  unjust  and  arbitrary  proceeding,  Dr.  Paton  writes  :  "  Those  will  be  the  most 
ready  to  condemn  us  who  have  never  been  on  the  spot,  and  who  cannot  see  all  the 
facts  as  they  lie  under  the  eyes  of  the  missionary.  How  could  we  ever  have  led 
natives  to  see  the  difference  between  admitting  a  man  to  the  Church  who  had  two 
wives,  and  not  permitting  a  member  of  the  Church  to  take  two  wives  after  his  ad- 
mission?  Their  nior.il  sense  is  blunted  enough  without  our  knocking  their  heads 
against  a  conundrum  in  ethics!  In  our  church-mrmbership  we  have  to  draw  the 
line  as  sharply  as  God's  law  will  allow  betwixt  wh  -  heathen  and  what  is  Christian, 
insteadof  minimising  the  difference."— /(>/</.,  pp.     .0,  267. 

»  Paton,  "  Letters  and  Sketches  from  the  New  Hebrides,"  p.  334. 

>  Alexander,  "The  Islands  of  the  Pacific,"  pp.  172-177.  Cf.  for  statements 
coucerning  other  sections  of  the  Pacific  Islands,  Cousins,  "  The  Story  of  the  South 
Seas,"  p.  154. 


it     •  i 


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220 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


1^'   ,     ■ 


ll 


'iv 

P. 

I 

Among  the  Indian  races  of  North  and  South  America  polygamy 

prevailed  extensively,'  with  no  attempt  to  question  its  desirability,  and 

still  less  to  challenge  its  propriety,  until  Christian 

Higher  domeitic  life     missions  entered  and  brought  a  lesson  of  higher  and 

among  the  Indian!       ,  ....  «      -,.  ..... 

of  America.  happier  livmg.     An  illustration  of  this  is  given  by 

the  Venerable  Archdeacon  Phair,  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  a  visit  recently  made  by  him  to  Scanterbury  station,  some 
forty  miles  to  the  northeast  of  Winnipeg,  in  the  Diocese  of  Rupert's 
Land,  Canada.  He  contrasts  the  present  state  of  the  Indians  with  his 
recollection  of  their  horrid  barbarism  thirty  years  ago,  when  he  first 
went  among  them.  "  If  the  efforts  of  e  Society,"  he  writes,  "had 
accomplished  no  more  in  this  country  aan  simply  transforming  this 
wilderness  of  heathenism  into  the  happy,  prosperous  Christian  com- 
munity that  it  is  now,  I  am  convinced  the  Society  would  be  more  than 
amply  repaid.  There  is  not  a  conjurer,  not  a  polygamist,  not  a  medi- 
cine-man in  the  whole  place."  ^ 

If  we  touch  the  old  civilizations  of  the  Orient,  we  find  that  either 

polygamy  is  firmly  established,  as  in  China  and,  under  certain  conditions, 

in  India,  or  that  concubinage  provides  an  ample  com- 

The  Korean  version  of   pensation  for  the  legal  observance  of  monogamy,  as 

the  marital  code.      {„  Japan  and  Korea.   The  Korean,  as  Mrs.  Bishop 

states, ' '  is  legally  a  strict  monogamist,"  yet  the  rather 

dubious  credit  to  which  the  Korean  husband  is  entitled  on  this  account 

is  clearly  indicated  by  what  the  same  author  says  a  little  further  on, 

where  she  quotes  the  remark  of  a  Korean  gentleman  in  summarizing 

1  "  There  is  no  marriage  ceremony  among  the  Navajoes,  save  bargain  and  sale. 
A  young  man  wishing  a  woman  for  a  wife  ascertains  who  is  her  father,  goes  and 
states  the  cause  of  his  visit,  and  offers  from  one  to  fifteen  horses  for  the  daughter. 
The  consent  of  the  father  is  absolute,  and  the  one  so  purchased  assents,  or  is  taken 
away  by  force.  All  the  marriageable  women  in  a  family  can  be  taken  by  the  same 
individual ;  that  is,  he  can  purchase  wives  so  long  as  his  property  holds  out.  Marital 
separations  are  by  mutual  consent,  when  both  are  at  liberty  to  go  in  search  of  other 
companions.  A  man  or  a  woman  from  one  village  can  marry  a  man  or  a  woman 
from  another.  The  men  have  from  one  to  six  wives,  sometimes  more."— Rev. 
Daniel  Dorchester,  D.D.,  in  T/te  Gospel  in  all  Lands,  July,  1894,  p.  302. 

"  Polygamy  exists,  but  it  is  limited  by  the  necessity  of  having  to  pay  a  certain 
amount  of  property  to  the  father-in-law  by  way  of  purchase.  The  first  wife  is  always 
the  chief  one,  but  each  has  to  present  to  her  husband  a  dish  of  her  own  cooking  every 
day,  besides  a  poncho  [an  outer  garmt  at  j  of  her  own  making  every  year,  so  that  an 
Indian's  house  contains  as  many  firej  -j  and  native  looms  as  he  has  wives." — 
"The  Araucanian  Indians:  Their  C  1  itry.  Habits,  and  Customs,"  in  TAt  Soulk 
American  Missionary  Magazine,  Septt"  iber,         j,  p.  136. 

*   The  Church  Missionary  Gleaner,  May,  1S94,  p.  67. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


221 


J 


with  the  old  ways 
in  Japan. 


the  Status  of  the  marriage  relationship :  "  We  marry  our  wives,"  he 
quietly  informed  Mrs.  Bishop,  "  but  we  love  our  concubines."  »  Mrs. 
Underwood  refers  to  the  same  fact  when  speaking  of  the  many  serious 
problems  of  missions  in  Korea.  She  remarks :  "  Another  monster  diffi- 
culty is  the  plural-wife  question.  It  is  indeed  a  'rock  of  offence.' 
Men  .re  naturally  unwilling  to  give  up  their  families,  women  to  give  up 
thei-  breadwinners  and  protectors,  especially  as  it  is  almost  invariably 
the  egal  first  wife  who  is  unloved  and  neglected,  and  the  concubine 
y>h->  is  the  companion  and  choice  of  the  husband's  mind  and  heart.  In 
our  sympathy  for  individual  cases  it  is  very  hard  to  look  beyond  the 
present.  The  easy  and  pleasant  thing  to  do  is  our  temptation,  and  yet 
thinking  of  the  future  of  the  Church  and  the  future  of  poor  women  even 
outside  the  Church  it  seems  to  some  of  us  that  our  only  clear,  though 
hard,  duty  is  to  take  a  firm  stand  against  polygamy.  At  present,  how- 
ever, our  mission  is  almost  evenly  divided  on  this  question."  2 

The  Japanese  custom  of  regarding  concubines  as  entitled  to  a  place 
in  the  family  is  described  by  Miss  Bacon.*  Among  mission  converts  in 
both  Korea  and  Japan  the  biblical  rule  of  strict 
monogamy  is  observed.  The  signs  of  a  "hole-  An  impending  break 
sale  break  with  the  old  ways  are  more  and  more 
manifest  in  Japan,*  and  the  progress  of  Christian- 
ity will  insure  this.  A  few  generations  of  Japanese  Christian  example 
and  influence  will  relegate  concubinage  to  its  proper  place  as  one  of 
the  scandals  of  a  past  social  regime.  The  honor  placed  upon  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  by  Christians,  who  to  an  increasing  extent  a-e  regard- 
ing it  as  a  religious  service,  adds  to  the  sacredness  of  the  marital  bond. 

1  Bishop,  "  Korea  and  Her  Neighbors,"  p.  343. 

2  Woman's  Work  in  the  Far  East,  November,  1896,  p.  92. 
»  Bacon,  "  Japanese  Girls  and  Women,"  pp.  111-114. 

♦  "But  what  has  Christianity  done  in  this  respect?  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there 
are  in  practice  not  one  tenth  the  number  of  violations  of  moral  rectitude  in  this  direc- 
tion in  Japan  to-day  as  compared  with  thirty  years  ago.  To  have  a  mekaki  [concu- 
bine] now  is  a  disgrace  to  a  man.  The  better  class  of  the  people  are  pronounced  in 
their  opinions  against  this  sin.  Native  ministers  have  preached  against  it,  statesmen 
have  denounced  it,  missionaries  have  shown  its  sinfulness,  the  Bible  has  enforced  the 
principles  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  until  there  is  scarce  a  hamlet  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land  where  the  Christian  idea  of  one  woman  for  one  man 
has  not  been  heard.  Thus  homes  are  brighter,  women  are  honored,  motherhood  is 
made  more  sacred,  and  society  is  blessed  and  far  more  peaceful.  The  determination 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  nation  to  keep  step  with  the  progress  of  the  times  will 
furnish  the  means  by  which  to  uproot  both  concubinage,  which  has  well-nigh  disap- 
peared, and  the  Yoshiwara."— Rev.  David  S.  Spencer  (M.  E.  M.  S.),  Nagoya, 
Japan. 


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222 


CIIRISTIAX  MISSrOKS  AXD  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


il'JJ 


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Japanese  statesmen  and  educated  men  are  turning  their  attention  to 
the  subject,  and  a  reform  of  the  marriage  laws  in  accordance  with  the 
code  of  Christian  civilization  cannot  be  far  distant.  In  The  Jntenia- 
tioual  Jounitil  of  Ethics  for  January,  1896,  Mr.  Yokoi  credits  mission- 
ary influence  in  Japan  with  "  impressing  on  the  mind  of  the  Japa- 
nese people  a  very  important  ethical  truth— the  prin<_iple  of  monogamy 
and  personal  purity— purity  as  obligatory  upon  men  and  women."  ^ 

In  China  polygamy  is  the  source  of  many  social  evils,  and  it  is  now 
acknowledged  by  enlightened  Chinese  themselves  that  if  true  civiliza- 
tion is  to  enter,  the  Christian  law  of  monogamy 
The  official  programme  n^yj^t    jjg   observed.       Dr.    Faber,    in    writing   of 

of  Christian  home  life     ,    _,  . 

in  China.  China  in  the  Light  of  History,"  deprecates  the 

mischief  caused  by  the  example  of  the  Emperor. 
He  attributes  to  polygamy  a  large  influence  in  producing  and  per- 
petuating the  corruption  of  the  mandarins,  since  the  expenses  of  polyg- 
amous households  tempt  the  oflScials  to  practise  their  methods  of  extor- 
tion.2  In  the  "  Statement  of  the  Nature,  Work,  and  Aims  of  Protes- 
tant Missions  in  China,"  prepared  for  presentation  to  the  Emperor,  it  is 
declared  that  "  Christians  marry  but  one  wife,"  and  a  brief  exposition 
of  the  distinctively  biblical  features  of  the  marriagj  relation  is  given.* 
The  example  of  the  happy  home  life  of  converts  is  already  a  power  in 
the  land.  That  progress  is  necessarily  slow  can  be  readily  explained, 
but  as  Christianity  obtains  sway  over  the  conscience,  and  the  ideals 
of  a  higher  civilization  win  the  respect  of  that  conservative  people, 
we  shall  find  the  Christian  code  more  and  more  widely  recognized  and 
observed. 

In  India  the  question  previously  referred  tc,  of  the  admission  of 
polygamous  converts  to  the  Church,  is  one  of  peculiar  difficulty,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  British  law  in  .Iiat  country  recog- 
Pecuiiar  difficuitiet  of   "izes  polygamy  and  gives  a  legal  status  to  more 
the  question  in  India,   than  one  wife.     Missionaries  have  held  very  dif- 
ferent views  upon  the  subject.     The  Presbyterian 
Synod  of  India,  in  1894,  adopted  a  Memorial  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  the  United  States  (Northern  Presbyterian),  presenting  a  request 
thac  the  ultimate  decision  in  all  such  cases  be  left  to  the  Synod,  and 
that  its  missionaries  be  allowed  to  act  independently  in  the  matter,  some 


1  The  International  Journal  of  Ethics,  January,  1896,  p.  200.  Cf.  also  article 
by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  De  Forest,  D.D.,  on  "The  Japan  of  j 896— Religiously,"  in 
The  Independent,  January  14,  1897. 

"   The  Chinese  Recorder,  January,  1897,  pp.  a8,  39. 

*  IHJ.,  February,  1896,  p.  69. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  AflSSIOXS 


223 


test  votes  of  that  body  having  revealed  the  fact  that  a  considerable 
majority  would  be  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  polygamists  to  the 
Church.  The  General  Assembly,  after  carefully  considering  the 
matter,  expressed  its  inability,  without  violating  the  Constitution  of 
the  Church,  to  thus  delegate  its  powers.^  Several  missionary  bodies  in 
India,  as,  for  example,  the  North  India  Conference  of  the  American 
Methodists,  are  opposed  to  such  admission,  and  many  distinguished 
individual  missionaries  are  on  record  as  of  the  opinion  that  the  bap- 
tism of  polygamous  converts  is  open  to  serious  objection.^ 

Despite  the  difficulties  of  refusing  to  accept  a  polygamist,  the  argu- 
ments against  such  acceptance  seem  to  be  conclusive.     On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  equally  clear  that   no  proper  effort 
should  be  spared  to  mitigate  the  hardship  and  trial     i,  »  deciiive  verdict 
which  are  involved  in  severing  such  connections.  powibie? 

It  does  not  seem  necessary  to  insist  upon  any 
radical  change  in  the  marit^.l  relationship,  except  in  one  essential 
particular,  every  other  obligation  receiving  due  consideration,  and  the 
legal  position  of  the  wife  before  the  law  of  the  land  being  in  no  way 
disturbed.  If,  however,  such  a  specialized  separation  is  impracticable 
or  unacceptable,  it  seems  far  wisf  to  defer  baptism  indefinitely,  know- 
ing as  we  do  that  salvation  is  no  pendent  upon  church  ordinances, 
and  that  only  the  temporal  and  vi<-,ible  status  is  affected,  the  larger  citi- 
zenship in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  being  a  matter  of  personal  faith  in 
Christ  and  spiritual  contact  with  Him.  Just  at  the  present  time,  when 
Indian  social  reformers  themselves  are  denouncing  polygamy  antl 
Kulinism,  and  passing  strong  resolutions  of  condemnation  in  public 
assemblies,  it  would  be  a  strange  and  mystifying  anomaly  for  the  Church 
of  Christ  to  make  room  for  Indian  polygamists.^ 

1  "  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  1896,"  pp.  149,  150.  No  vote  declarative  of  the  judgment  of 
the  Assembly  on  the  policy  of  admitting  polygamists  was  taken. 

*  '■  Report  of  the  Missionary  Conference  of  the  Anglican  Communion,  1894," 
p.  294.  The  Lambeth  Conference  of  1888  also  recorded  a  vote  against  the  admission 
of  polygamists.  See  also  a  "  Reply  to  the  Memorial  of  the  Synod  of  India  to  the 
General  Assembly,"  by  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Lucas,  of  Saharanpur. 

»  Some  aspects  of  polygamy  in  certain  sections  of  India,  Burma,  and  Assam  are 
so  offensive  to  human  decency  and  so  rankly  odorous  with  animalism  that  it  would 
be  extremely  compromising  for  the  Christian  Church  to  recognize  the  system  as  such 
even  in  cases  where  every  objection  is  at  a  minimum. 

"  Polygamy  and  polyandry  exist  in  some  parts  of  Assam,  although  they  are  not 
formally  recognized  as  among  the  legal  customs  of  the  country.  Men  have  their 
acknowledged  wives  whom  they  partly  support,  but  they  have  also  concubines 
wherever  they  go.     In  one  part  of  my  district  it  is  almost  the  rule  that  married 


ill* 


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224 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


This  discussion  of  the  propriety  of  ad?  ig  polygamous  converts  to 
the  Church  sliould  not  be  allowed  to  ol  .re  the  fact  that  missions  in 
India  have  everywhere  set  themselves  strongly  in  opposition  to  polygamy 
itself,  and  that  it  is  altogether  prohibited  within  the  Christian  commu- 
nion.  Among  the  converted  Kols,  where  the  Gossner  Mission  has 
recently  celebrated  its  Jubilee,  it  has  wholly  ceased,  whereas  it  was  a 
national  vice  previous  to  the  entrance  of  Christianity.^  The  Arcot 
Mission  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America  is  on  record  as  follows : 
"  Polygamy  has  not  existed,  and  will  not  be  allowed  to  exist,  in  any 
of  our  churches."  -  So  far  as  any  formal  sanction  of  the  system  is 
concerned,  this  is  in  fact  the  attitude  of  the  entire  Christian  Church. 

In  all  Moslem  lands  polygamy  and  concubinage,  as  a  feature  of 

slavery,  are  recognized,  and  have  a  religious  authorization  in  the 

Islamic  code.     It  is  simply  impossible  for  Chris- 

The  Moslem  code  of     tianity  to  countenance  these  practices,  and   for 

polygamy  is  ant>-  ■»  c    i  i 

christian.  a  Mohammedan   polygamist  to   be   admitted  to 

Go.spel  ordinances  would  be  an  indelible  offense 
against  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the  Christian  Church.  So  far  as  the 
author  is  aware,  this  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  missionaries  laboring 
among  Mohammedan  populations.  The  gross  views  of  Moslems  upon 
this  subject  are  utterly  irreconcilable  with  Christian  standards.3  In 
Babism,  a  reaction  from  Persian  Mohammedanism,  one  of  the  reforms 
proposed  was  that  polygamy  should  be  discountenanced.     It  is  above 

women  invite  other  men  when  tlieir  own  Iiusbands  are  away.  And  although  the 
husband  would  he  more  or  less  angry  with  his  wife  if  he  found  her  quartering  any 
other  man,  yet  he  would  not  consider  either  his  wife  or  the  man  to  have  committed 
a  sin  unto  death,  as  he  is  himself  guilty  of  transgressing  in  similar  fashion.  In  an- 
other  part  of  this  district,  when  a  man  marries  the  daughter  he  marries  the  mother 
also  at  the  same  time.  That  is  always  understood.  Both  are  his  wives  in  the  same 
way."-Rev.  Robert  Evans  (W.  C.  M.  M.  S.),  Mawphlang,  Shillong,  Assam. 

"  The  Civil  and  Military  Gazette,  October  3,  1890,  has  the  following  notice: 
'  A  Kulin  Brahman  over  eighty  years  of  age,  residing  in  the  far  North,  lately  cast  his 
aged  eyes  on  six  sisters,  whose  ages  ranged  from  three  to  tiventy-two  years!  He 
made  tne  sporting  offer  to  marry  the  lot  for  Rs.  300.  The  father  of  the  maidens 
accepted  this  proposal  and  paid  down  the  money,  but  the  bridegroom  designate  beat 
a  hasty  retreat  with  the  coin.  The  father  sued  him  for  the  money,  and  obtained  a 
decree,  but  soon  died,  and  the  relatives  came  to  terms  with  the  aged  lover,  agreeing 
to  pay  him  Rs.  600  on  the  fulfilment  of  the  contract. '  This  case  would  have  passed 
unnoticed  as  a  matter  not  worth  mentioning  had  it  not  entered  the  law-court.  And 
how  many  cases  there  are  like  this  we  little  know."— Rev.  R.  M.  Paterson,  B.D. 
(C.  S.  M.),  Gujrat,  Punjab,  India. 

1  The  Mission  World,  February,  1896,  p.  79. 

*  Laurie,  "  Missions  and  Science"  (The  Ely  Volume),  p.  483. 

*  Wilson,  "  Persian  Life  and  Customs,"  pp.  262-367. 


Hr.^IlItaI  fur  Women  and  ChiUlrfn,  Nellort-,  Indii 
lA.  H.  M.  ;-.. 

\V..ii!jii's  !^I^pital.  tlunlur,  India. 
(I.uth.  (i.  S.p 

HoM'iT.Ms   FOR    Women    in    Iniua. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


2SS 


all  things  important  that  the  record  of  Christian  missions  wherever  they 
come  in  contact  with  Mohammedans  should  be  consistent  and  unequiv- 
ocal in  maintaining  the  law  of  Christ,  as  any  compromise  with  Islam 
upon  this  matter  would  beyond  all  peradventure  be  dangerous  and  scan- 
dalous. Mission  policy  everywhere  has  been  decisive  and  firm  on  this 
point,  and  the  Christian  estimate  of  marriage  is  slowly  gaining  not 
only  respectful  recognition,  but  even  a  measure  of  ascendancy,  in 
Moslem  circles.^ 


=1 


3.  Checking  Adultery  and  Divorce.— Adultery  on  the  part 
of  woman  is  generally  and   indeed  strenuously  condemned  in  the 
higher  circles  of  heathen  society,  and  is  frequently 
punished  with  frightful  severity.   There  is  a  degree    he^hlnUm  o"hVo?d 
of  laxity,  however,  in  some  quarters  which  makes  P"E»n  code  concerning 
it  seem  at  times  as  if  all  standards  of  virtue  and    "*"'*"^  '""*  '*"'""• 
honor  were  in  a  state  of  collapse.2    The  characteristic  leniency  of 
pagan  morals  concerning  the  same  sin  on  the  part  of  the  man  is  still 

1  "  Of  course  the  first  thing  that  meets  one  in  the  social  realm  as  a  result  of 
missions  in  the  East  is  the  changed  condition  of  women.  This  is  patent  to  all,  but 
I  have  recently  had  the  matter  more  especially  called  to  mind  by  reading  anew 
Muir's  Life  of  Mohammed,  in  connection  with  the  Annals  of  At-Tabari,  relating  to 
the  same  period.  Mohammed  changed  the  comparatively  free  and  honorable  state 
of  women  among  the  Arabs  to  one  of  seclusion  and  humiliation,  a  course  rendered 
necessary  by  his  sanction  in  precept  and  practice  of  polygamy,  and  the  almost  unre- 
strained liberty  of  concubinage  and  divorce.  The  degradation  of  womanhood  fol- 
lowed,  and  one  can  see  plainly  how  the  introduction  of  Gospel  teaching  has  tended 
strongly  tc  iiodify  this  blate  of  things  here  in  the  East."  — Rev.  Professor  Harvey 
Porter,  Ph.D.,  Syrian  Protestant  College,  Beirut,  Syria. 

"  Polygamy  is  almost  impossible  where  girls  [Moslems]  have  been  taught  in  our 
schools.  An  educated  girl  can  usually  control  that.  The  intellectual  culture  of 
Moslem  women  will  in  time  do  away  with  the  institution,  by  making  its  monstrosity 
apparent. "-Rev.  Professor  George  E.  Post,  M.D.,  Beirut,  Syria. 

2  "  Chinese  wives  can  be  sold  or  leased  for  a  term  of  years.  One  of  our  early 
inquirers  near  Ningpo  could  not  be  received  into  church  fellowship  because  while 
still  a  heathen  he  had  leased  his  wife  for  a  term  of  ten  years.  When  he  saw  how 
wrong  he  had  been  in  doing  so,  he  endeavored  to  redeem  her,  but  the  party  in  pos- 
session  refused  to  release  her  until  the  ten  years  should  have  expired.  Before  the 
time  was  up,  the  second  husband  died,  and  his  family  or  clan,  refusing  to  allow  the 
woman  'o  return  to  her  original  husb.ind,  leased  her  to  a  third  party.  Such  abomi- 
nable practices  will  surely  die  out  as  Christianity  spreads,  and  our  churches  are  already 
«  distinct  benefit  to  society  in  this  respect,  as  none  of  them  will  tolerate  such  customs." 
~S.  P.  Barchet,  M.D.  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  Kinhwa,  China. 

"  As  to  the  degradation  of  women,  volumes  might  be  written.    Among  officials, 


-A 

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226  CHRISTIAiV  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL   PROGRESS 

found  in  the  coile  of  social  manners  throughout  the  Oriental  world. 
Among  savage  tril)es  similar  ideas  prevail,  but  in  the  practice  of  lower 
races  there  is  far  less  restraint  than  is  found  in  the  higher  civilization  of 
the  Orient.  Christianity,  from  its  earliest  entrance  into  heat!  -n  society, 
has  contended  for  a  nobler  standard,  and  that  conflict  in  miision  fields 
is  still  at  close  quarters  and  with  no  attempt  to  compromise.  In  the  be- 
ginr.ing  of  Christian  history  some  of  the  early  Church  Fathers  fell  into 
the  error  of  condemning  second  marriages  as  not  consistent  with  the 
inviolability  of  the  one  marriage  tie.»  A  wiser  view  upon  this  matter 
eventually  prevailed,  with  no  relaxing,  however,  of  the  abhorrence  and 
inflexible  condemnation  of  the  sin  of  adultery  on  the  part  of  both  the 
hu.sband  and  wife.  The  peculiar  sacredness  which  attaches  to  the 
conjugal  union  is  an  integral  part  of  Christian  teaching  in  every  mission 
field,  while  sins  against  the  Seventh  Commandment  are  made  a  matter 
of  discipline  in  all  the  churches,  perhaps  more  frequently  in  African  com- 
munities than  in  others.2  In  some  instances  legislation  for  the  regu- 
lation  of  divorce  has  been  promoted.  The  Rev.  F.  M.  Price  (A.  B.  C. 
F.  M.),  of  the  Micronesian  Mission,  writes  of  a  visit  to  Butaritari,  one 
of  the  Gilbert  Islands,  and  thus  refers  to  the  king :  "  This  king  is  really 

wlu)  often  have  numbers  of  concubines,  a  very  conjr.on  and  polite  present  from  one 
to  another  is  a  favorite  concubine!  Among  the  '.ommon  people,  who  are  not  able 
to  keep  concubines,  a  wife  is  often  loaned  to  another  man.  Wives  who  cannot  bear 
children  are  not  averse  to  their  husbands  getting  a  secondary  wife,  or  borrowing  the 
wife  of  some  one  else.  These  things  are  known  to  be  wrong,  and  are  not  actually 
practised  under  the  open  heaven,  but  they  are  matters  of  well-known  fact."— Rev. 
J.  C.  Garritt  (P.  R  F.  M.  X.),  Hangchow,  China. 

1  Schmidt,  "  The  Social  Results  of  Karly  Christianity,"  p.  198. 

2  That  the  lives  of  converts  in  different  mission  fields  are  controlled  to  a  remark- 
able  extent  by  Christian  principles  of  morality,  and  that  church  discipline  is  maintained 
when  necessary,  is  apparent  from  the  following  representative  testimonies : 

"  Husl).-inds  and  wives  are  faithful  to  each  other.  Many  of  them  train  their 
children  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  these  children  go  into  the  marriage  state  with- 
out bringing  dishonor  upon  themselves,  their  parents,  or  the  Church  of  Christ."— 
Rev.  Robert  Evans  (\V.  C.  M.  M.  S.),  Mawphlang,  Shillong,  Assam. 

"  A  check  has  been  given  to  the  loose,  immoral  life  which  polluted  the  whole  com- 
munity,  and  marriage  unions  according  to  divine  law  are  being  formed."— The  late 
Rev.^  Hugh  Goldie  (U.  P.  C.  S.  M.),  Creek  Town,  Old  Calabar,  Africa. 

"  In  the  train  of  the  Gospel  came  also  admission  to  the  decencies  and  dignities 
of  marriage.  A  low  morale  is  still  the  sad  social  characteristic  of  Jamaica,  but, 
whereas  in  the  old  slavery  times  the  nuptial  compact  was  almost  unknown,  there 
are  now  over  three  thousand  m-irriages  solemnized  and  registered  yearly  in  the 
island."-Rev.  James  Ballantine  (U.  P.  C.  S.  M.),  Chapelton,  Jamaica. 

"  Marriage  has  become  the  basis  of  the  family,  and  that,  too,  through  the  influ- 
ence  of  Christianity,  or  public  opinion,  among  many  who  are  not  yet  Christians."— 
Rev.  J.  Morton,  D.D.  (C.  P.  .M.),  Trinidad. 


•  L. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


237 


a  remarkable  man  for  a  Gilbert  Islander.  He  is  a  devoted  and  con- 
sistent Christian,  and  is  doing  what  he  can  to  give  his  people  just  and 
humane  laws  and  to  elevate  them  to  a  higher  plane  of  life.  ...  He 
is  now  framing  a  law  against  divorce.  He  has  put  away  all  his  concu- 
bines and  is  living  with  one  wife,  and  trying  to  encourage  the  establish- 
ment of  Christian  homes."*  A  similar  influence  is  reported  from 
Madagascar :  "  Divorce,  for  any  and  every  reason,  and  often  for  no 
reason  at  all,  used  to  be  an  everj'-day  occurrence.  Against  such  un- 
righteousness there  is  now  strong  popular  feeling,  and  it  has  become 
much  less  common  than  in  the  past.  To  put  away  a  wife  is  now  un- 
lawful in  Madagascar,  and  a  valid  decree  can  only  be  obtained  by 
appeal  to  the  State."  - 

That  this  matter  of  divorce  is  one  of  great  difficulty  and  embarrass- 
ment can  hardly  be  questioned  by  one  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  its  prev- 
alence even  within  the  precincts  of  our  best  civilization.  The  scandals 
of  divorce  legislation  and  practice  in  our  own  country  fully  justify  such 
an  organization  as  "The  National  League  for  the  Protection  of  the 
Family"  (formerly  known  as  "  The  National  Divorce  Reform  League"), 
from  whose  reports  facts  which  are  calculated  to  startle  and  sober  every 
Christian  patriot  may  be  gathered.^  The  pagan  system  of  conjugal 
ethics  has  always  stultified  itself  not  only  in  its  failure  to  insist  upon  a 
single  code  of  morals  for  both  parties,  but  in  its  provision  for  easy 
divorce  at  the  will  of  the  husband.  The  marriage  tie  is  worthless  if  it 
can  be  annulled  by  the  man  whenever  he  is  so  inclined.  Divorce 
becomes  simply  the  routine  form  for  making  adulter)'  respectable. 
The  average  Oriental  of  to-day  regards,  not  unnaturally,  the  infidelity 
of  his  wife  with  horror  and  indignation,  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  either 
insists  that  his  own  life  is  not  to  be  scrutinized,  or,  as  is  the  case  in  the 
majority  of  instances,  he  sins  openly  without  shame  or  regret.*  He 
grants  to  his  wife  no  liberty  of  separation  on  this  account,  while  he 
claims  the  absolute  right  on  his  own  part  to  divorce  at  pleasure,  with 
unrestricted  freedom  to  contract  new  alliances. 


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1   Thi  Missionary  Herald,  November,  1894,  p.  488. 

'  Rev.  J.  Pearse  (L.  M.  S. ),  Fianarantsoa,  Madagascar. 

'  The  Report  for  1895  shows  that  divorces  in  the  United  States  have  increased 
more  than  twice  as  fast  as  the  population.  In  1867  there  were  9937,  in  1886  there 
were  25,535,  in  1894  there  were  over  40,000. 

*  In  Persia  an  iniquitous  system  of  temporary  marriages  is  cloaked  under  legal 
forms.  A  missionary  writes:  "  The  system  of  contract  marriages,  through  which 
women  are  passed  along  from  one  temporary  husband  to  another,  carries  with  it  the 
degradation  of  all  parties  involved."— George  W.  Holmes,  M.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.), 
Hamadan,  Persia. 


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C///l/Sr/A.V  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PHOGRESS 

•c,iptur.ivi,w.ofm.,.  <=^"[ches  and  IS  insisted  upon  as  an  essential  nart 

"o'fr/or 'c'clT  ,•  ;f  ^"t'  r';  °'  ^''""-"•'y-     Wherever  bib- 
Ch,i..i.„,.y.         "ca   standards  have  been  established,  chastity  is 

Pr.v.„,   gr„.,   „.„„j,.     Christian   Caching,   al„™  a  e     Si    ' 

insures  many  disappointments,  and  is  one  of  the  secrets  of  lott' 
homes  and  wanton  alliances.^     The  Christian  theoVand  La  t  cTo^^^^ 

secunng  happy  marriages  and  safeguarding  the  domestic  relations 
fessor  George  E.  Post.  M.D..  BeVruf  Sy7a         '^  '"  ""'  ^--"-•"-Rev.  Pro. 

tu  J  :^r  -  r  zs;r  "^^:t ''''^^'  '^"^  '^^^  ^  ''°-^  °'  '--'- 

knowledge  of  the  youn.  pel  e   ^^l  "^"leements  are  made  without  the 

o-.iKe.  P.  V  C^O^^^^Z--^::^::-  —  •»  ea. 

.he  TelluT'lVrier '\;  •;  T''''''  ''''''''■  ^  -"  ^P"^»  °^  ^is  wife  in 
of  the  brfde  as  pufcha     Inev  LT  '°,  "7  '  """  '°  ""^  ^'"'^^  ""^  -"'h" 

paid  for.  It  is'h^drrel'*  o  ITZ  '  "  '"'"''  "^  ^"'  '^  ^°"«'"  -'' 
dream  of  consulting  the  S  abou'  h'/  »'"  """f"'  "  """"'"^^  "°  °"«  ^-'-l 
Howard  Campbell  f..  M.^.  cXaH.^ i  5:^ ^  ^"  —'•"--  - 

should :  re  slru7d  thi  rZ:^':rt  t^  *; '-''  ^^  ^'^  p^°'-'^  -^  ^^^  f-"y. 

.he  sister-in-law,  hetl;takelT;l'r  "^"^  l'"'""  "'•°  '^  »"'-^''  -'h 
the  women  hav  one  of  wo  chi  d^e^T  /  Tk  ""'  "  '=°"'^"'""'-  ^^  «  '»'-- 
(A.  B.  M.  v.),  Bhamo   Burmf     ""  "^'°"  ''^^  -arry.'.-Rev.  VV.  H.  Roberts 

ingihe?.^^r'arath;:e?  '"'"f  '"'  "  '^*  ^"^^'^  °^  ~-'  -»  -^'^  -ter- 
deLshesThere/;:";^^^^^^^^^^^  A,  his 

teaching  of  the  CWian  dtt°      k     .  "'  "^^  ""*  ""^  "^  «  "^°°d  ^''e-     The 

.tation,'bu.  even  he  Hhe  r^^^^^  """'^V°  "^'^-'^  --an's  suffering  in  thi. 

the  dictum  that  m«j  and  woman  are  equal  in  God's  sight  ii 


I    \ 


1'  ' 


3: 

I  r 


Wt-ildiiiy  druupiif  Kaflrarian  I  hristians. 

Native  Christian  Teacher. 

Sewing  Sch(K.I,  Shiloh,  Kaffraria. 

\loRAi.     Transformations   in   Soith    Africa. 

(M.  M.  S.» 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SSIOXS 


239 


There  tre  tho$«.  •ho  deprecate  any  effort  on  the  part  of  muwionariet 
to  change  for  the  better  the  native  customs  of  betrothal  and  marriage. 
In  their  opinion,  what  has  been  should  continue  to  be,  and  is  good 
enough  for  all  practical  purposes.  The  influence  of  missionaries  has 
been  exerted,  however,  with  persistency  and  resolute  purpose  chiefly 
in  two  directions :  first,  in  protesting,  where  this  is  possible,  as  in 
.M)me  sections  of  Africa,  against  the  cooperation  of  a  Chri.otian  govern- 
ment in  enforcing  methods  and  requirements  which  are  in  themselves 
unjust  and  objectionable;  second,  by  cultivating  in  the  natives  higher 
conceptions  of  what  is  incumbent  in  well-ordered  society,  and  encourag- 
ing them  in  the  reform  of  this  particular  evil.  The  Rev.  Brownlee  J. 
Ross  (F.  C.  S.),  of  Cunningham,  Transkei,  Cape  Colony,  writes  that 
while  every  wealthy  native,  in  order  to  prove  his  social  standing,  had 
from  four  to  fifteen  wives,  each  wife  had  at  the  same  time  her  lover, 
and  this  involved  no  social  or  moral  stigma.  The  British  Government 
has  been  countenancing  the  system,  but  "  Christianity  has  now  almost 
broken  it  down."  In  South  Africa  it  is  the  so-called  "missionary  clamor" 
which  has  secured  a  desirable  government  policy  towards  the  commer- 
cial features  of  a  marriage  bargain,  and  has  prevented  in  many  instances 
the  cooperation  of  the  authorities  in  enforcing  the  wishes  of  parents 
where  they  involved  the  enslavement  and  unhappiness  of  daughters.* 


being  accepted  very  slowly."  — Rev.  R.  M.  Ormerod  (U.  M.  F.  M.  S.),  GolbiUiti, 
Last  Africa. 

"  In  the  engagement  of  a  young  girl  to  be  married  she  has,  almost  invariably, 
no  voice  or  choice  in  the  matter.  The  man  may  be  young  or  old,  rich  or  poor,  and  his 
character  is  not  taken  into  consideration.  During  the  process  of  betrothment  the 
girl  is  not  permitted  to  see  and  converse  with  her  future  husband  ;  she  must  shun  his 
company,  as  a  sign  of  bashfulness,  until  the  time  of  their  m.trriage."  — Extract  from 
the  late  Bishop  C'rowther's  Papers  on  African  Missions. 

'  "  Another  great  evil  is  the  sale  cf  girls  for  wives,  which  results  in  practical 
slavery.  The  missionaries  have  i.  isted  that  the  Government  should  not  be  a  party 
to  sanction  and  enforce  such  saU>  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  lately  marriageable 
girls  have  learned  in  many  instances  to  defy  the  law,  and  to  run  away  to  the  mis- 
.sionaries  for  protection,  if  their  parents  try  to  force  them  to  marry  any  one  whom 
lliey  dislike.  I  should  add,  that  we  put  no  restraint  on  these  girls  to  keep  them  if  they 
wish  to  go  home  when,  usually  within  twenty-four  hours,  their  parents  come  for  them. 
We  allow  the  parents  to  talk  with  them  to  their  hearts'  content,  but  we  never  per- 
mit the  daughters  to  be  seized  and  dragged  away.  The  storm  is  severe  while  it 
lasts,  but  when  the  parents  see  that  the  girl  is  allowed  to  go  if  she  wishes,  and  that 
she  is  not  willing,  then  they  quiet  down,  and  leave,  requesting  us  to  take  good  care 
of  her.  I  may  s-iy  here  that  it  is  a  disciplinable  offense  for  church  members  to  sell 
their  sisters  or  daughters."  — The  I?.te  Rev.  H.  M.  Bridgman  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.), 
Umznmlie,  Natal. 

"  Puiygamy  is  anolhcr  evil.     It  la  made  iauch  worse  by  the  custom  of  paying 


\ 


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230 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


4.  Seeking  the  Abolishment  or  Child  Marriage.— A  desire  for 
early  offspring,  in  order  to  insure  the  observance  of  the  ceremonial  rites 

which  among  Hindus  a  dead  parent  is  supposed  to 

ChI'utiln\"iviir«ti'oni   '"^l"'''^'  ^'^^  ""' versal  wish  to  secure  an  early  alliance 

toward!  child  marriage,  for  daughters,  the  pruriency  of  childhood  in  the 

East,  and  the  tendency  everywhere  to  regard  mar- 
riage only  in  its  sensuous  aspects,  sufficiently  explain  the  unnatural  cus- 
tom of  child  marriage.!  Non-Christian  civilization  has  not  been  inclined 
to  object  to  it,  and  has  done  little  to  mitigate  its  evils.  Among  the 
populations  of  India  (see  Vol.  I.,  p.  1 19)  it  has  prevailed  to  a  deplora- 
ble extent,  and  has  occupied  until  quite  recently  an  almost  impregnable 
position  in  their  domestic  life.  The  counter-movement  is  wholly  Chris- 
tian in  its  origin,  although  wherever  higher  ideals  of  marriage  have 
been  introduced  and  a  non-Christian  public  sentiment  against  the  cus- 
tom has  been  aroused,  valuable  cooperation  on  the  part  of  certain  In- 
dian reformers  who  are  not  believers  in  Christianity  deserves  recognition. 
Cliristian  missions,  however,  have  been  the  source  of  the  effort  to  re- 
form, which  has  been  especially  stimulated  by  medical  missionaries,  who 
have  dwelt  particulariy  upon  the  physiological  and  social  objections  to 
the  practice.  "  The  raising  of  the  marriage  age,"  writes  Dr.  Pauline 
Root,  "  was  first  agitated  by  missionary  physicians." 

The  Missionary  Conference  of  1877,  at  Calcutta,  addressed  a  peti- 
tion to  the  Governor  of  Bengal,  requesting  the  appointment  of  a  com- 

(lowry.  In  marrying  a  wife,  a  man  must  pay  her  father  as  many  cattle  as  may  be 
agreed  on.  This  among  the  Kaffirs  is  not  wholly  evil  in  its  primary  intention.  The 
cattle  are  the  support  of  the  wife,  should  she  be  put  away,  or  have  to  leave  her  hus- 
band, owing  to  cruelty.  Usually,  however,  uku-lohola,  or  the  custom  of  exacting 
dowry,  is  grossly  abused,  owing  to  human  cupidity.  A  father  sells  his  daujjnters, 
with  utter  disregard  for  their  wishes  and  affections,  in  many  cases  to  old  and  wealthy 
polygamists ;  and  still  more  revolting  is  the  use  of  brute  force  by  an  unnatural  and 
inhuman  father,  should  a  daughter  resist  his  wishes.  It  has  been  found  difficult  to 
put  a  stop  to  a  modified  form  of  this  custom  within  the  Christian  community,  as  a 
father  expects  dowry  for  his  daughters."— The  late  Mr.  Andrew  Smith,  M.A.,  King 
William's  Town,  South  Africa.  Cf.  also  Bryce,  "  Impressions  of  South  Africa," 
P-  391- 

1  "  In  regard  to  women,  the  general  feeling  is  that  they  are  the  necessary 
machines  for  producing  children  (Manu  ix.  96);  and  without  children  there  could 
be  no  due  performance  of  the  funeral  rites  essential  to  the  peace  of  a  man's  soul  after 
death.  This  is  secured  by  early  marriages.  If  the  law  required  the  consent  of 
boys  and  girls  before  the  marriage  ceremony,  they  might  decline  to  give  it.  Hence 
girls  are  betrothed  at  three  or  four  years  of  age,  and  go  through  the  ceremony  of 
marriage  at  seven  to  boys  of  whom  they  know  nothing,  and  if  these  boy  husbands 
die  they  remain  virgin-widows  all  their  lives."  — MonJer-WiUiams,  "  Brahmani»iu 
and  IliuJuiam,"  p.  3S7. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


231 


mission  to  obtain  information  concerning  the  character  and  extent  of 
the  evil.*  Bishop  Thoburn  is  right  in  his  statement  regarding  the 
aboHtion  of  child  marriage,  that  "  while  the  missionaries  already  have 
the  cooperation  of  many  enlightened  Hindus,  yet  when  the  great  con- 
summation is  reached,  they  will  be  justly  entitled  to  a  large,  if  not  the 
largest,  share  of  the  credit  due  for  so  great  an  achievement."  -'  One  of 
the  most  complete  and  pott-erful  indictments  of  the  custom  is  from  the 
pen  of  Mrs.  N.  M.  Mansell,  M.D.,  of  the  American  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Mission,  now  residing  at  Mussoorie.  Her  medical  knowledge  and 
experience  give  special  force  to  her  statements  upon  the  physical  evils 
incidental  to  early  marriage.^  Enlightened  natives  who  have  taken  an 
early  and  active  part  in  this  crusade  are  worthy  of  all  honor.  The 
majority  of  them  are  either  Christians  or  strongly  under  the  influence 
of  Christian  truth.  Among  the  first  to  render  notable  service  was 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen,*  and  later  Mr.  B.  M.  Malabari,  whose  able  ad- 
vocacy in  the  interest  of  this  and  other  great  reforms  adds  lustre  to  his 
name."*  Many  other  distinguished  natives  might  be  mentioned  as  giv- 
ing valuable  support  to  these  efforts. 

Special  notice  should  be  taken  of  a  very  successful  movement  in 
Rajputana,  which  originated  through  the  agency  of  the  late  Colonel 
Walter,  C.  S.  I.,  then  British  Agent  in  that  impor- 
tant native  State.  This  excellent  Christian  officer,  Helpful  effort*  on  the 
recognizing  the  vast  evils  which  attend  the  custom  p"*  °f  "  British  official, 
of  early  marriage,  proposed  in  1887  that  a  repre- 
sentative committee  should  consider  the  question.  The  suggestion  re- 
sulted in  the  formation  of  a  society  called,  in  his  honor,  the  "  Walterkrit 
Rajput  Hitkarni  Sabha,"  which  may  be  translated  the  "  Walter- 
founded  Rajput-loving  Association."  The  aim  of  this  organization  is 
to  limit  marriage  and  funeral  expenses,  and  to  determine  the  earliest 
age  at  which  marriage  may  take  place.  The  members  bind  themselves 
by  a  set  of  rules  limiting  the  expenditure  on  both  marriages  and  fu- 
nerals, and  fixing  the  minimum  age  for  the  marriage  of  boys  at  eighteen 
and  of  girls  at  fourteen.  In  view  of  the  difficulties  which  attend  so 
radical  a  reform  in  India,  the  success  of  the  effort  has  been  remarkable. 
The  results  from  year  to  year  have  grown  steadily  better,  and  the  in- 


.1, 


H 


1  Warneck,  "  Missions  and  Culture,"  p.  183. 

*  Thoburn,  "  India  and  Malaysia,"  p.  186. 

*  The  document  was  published  in   The  Indian  Social  Rtformer,  September  I, 
1890,  and  appears  again  in  the  issue  of  February  13,  1898. 

*  Monier-Williams,  "  Urahmanism  and  Hinduism,"  p.  507. 

*  Karkaria,  "  India:  Forty  Years  of  Progress  and  Reform,"  pp.  114-130. 


n 


232 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


1    !•: 


fringements  of  the  rule  have  constantly  decreased.  The  most  recent 
report  at  hand— that  of  1896— states  that  out  of  5458  marriages 
among  Rajputs  the  rules  of  the  Association  were  broken  only  in  about 
six  per  cent,  of  the  whole  number.  In  no  less  than  3021  cases  the 
bridegroom  was  over  twenty  years  of  age,  and  in  820  cases  the  bride 
was  over  sixteen.*  The  organization  is  now  well  established,  and  its 
membership  is  representative  throughout  Rajputana.  The  Native 
States  of  Baroda  and  Cambay  have  followed  this  example  and  insti- 
tuted a  similar  reform  movement. 

In  the  Christian  communities  of  India  this  harmful  custom  has  been 
almost  entirely  abolished.  "  Child  marriage  is  unknown  among  our 
Christian  people,"  writes  the  Rev.  W.  Howard 
cbriitian  communities  Campbell  (L.  M.  S.),  of  South  India.  The  influ- 
repudiate  the  cuitom.  gnce  of  education  works  steadily  against  it,  and  in- 
stances are  on  record  of  actual  revolt  on  the  part 
of  educated  girls.  Dr.  Rukhmabai,  a  young  woman  of  high  caste,  not 
long  ago  successfully  resisted  through  the  English  courts  an  attempt  to 
force  her  to  consent  to  an  unwelcome  marriage,  the  contract  for  which 
was  made  during  her  infancy.  She  afterwards  pursued  a  medical 
course  in  England,  passing  all  examinations  with  credit,  and  then  re- 
ceived the  appointment  as  house-surgeon  at  the  Cama  Hospital,  Bom- 
bay.2  Legislation  upon  this  subject  by  the  Indian  Government 
is  embodied  in  what  is  known  as  the  Native  Marriage  Act,  of  1872, 
which  prohibits  forced  marriages  under  the  age  of  fourteen  for  women 
and  eighteen  for  men,  and  requires  the  written  consent  of  parents 
or  guardians  when  either  party  is  under  twenty-one.'  The  old  pro- 
vision of  the  Penal  Code  fixed  the  limit  at  ten  years  in  the  case  of  a  girl 
as  the  age  before  which  it  was  criminal  to  consummate  a  marriage. 
Subsequent  legislation,  which  went  into  effect  in  1891,  raised  the  age 
to  twelve  years,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  still  further  provision  will 
place  the  minimum  limit  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  as  is  already  the  case 
in  Rajputana  and  Mysore,  under  native  administration.  The  Age  of 
Consent  Bill,  just  referred  to,  passed  by  the  Government  in  1891, 
establishing  the  age  at  which  a  legal  marriage  could  be  consummated 
at  twelve  years  for  the  girl,  created  considerable  excitement  among  con- 
servative Hindus,  but  has  been  accepted  with  quiet  satisfaction  by  the 


1  The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  August  22,  1897,  p.  402.  The  author  is  indebted 
to  Dr.  James  Sommerville  (U.  P.  C.  S.  M.),  of  Jodhpore,  Rajputana,  for  an  account 
of  the  valuable  services  of  Colonel  Walter. 

*  The  Double  Cross  and  Medical  Missionary  Record,  November,  1895,  p.  232. 

•  See  Vol.  I.,  pp.  120,  121. 


I 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


233 


majority.*  "  Child  marriage,"  writes  the  Rev.  Dr.  Downie  (A.  B.  M.  U.), 
of  Nellore,  "is  losing  its  hold  on  the  people.  This  is  due  directly 
to  missions."  Societies  for  the  express  purpose  of  discouraging  infant 
marriages  are  now  springing  up  in  different  sections  of  India.  The 
Christian  leaven  is  working  mightily .2 

Other  results  somewhat  less  direct,  but  still  plainly  in  the  line  of 
sequence,  may  be  recorded.     We  note  among  these  the  formation  of 
societies  for  social  reform  where  this  subject,  among 
others,  is  brought  forward  for  discussion  and  ad-     R«fo"n  •gitaUon  ex- 

,  ,      .     ,   .  tending  throughout 

vocacy  as  a  matter  of  pressmg  and  vital  impor-  Indian  society, 
tance.  Resolutions  are  introduced  dealing  with 
the  practice  in  a  spirit  of  deprecation,  and  in  some  instances  of  severe 
reprobation.  Thorough  reform  measures  are  urged  in  papers  and  ad- 
dresses by  educated  natives,  well  calculated  to  exert  a  wide  influence  in 
changing  public  opinion.  Every  meeting  of  the  National  Social  Con- 
ference affords  an  opportunity  for  renewed  assault  upon  the  custom  of 
infant  marriage,  and  thus  through  the  press  reports  strong  and  able 
protests  from  repiesentative  men  are  scattered  broadcast  throughout 
India.3   Local  conferences,  although  less  noted  as  representative  gather- 

1  A  full  discussion  of  tlie  question  of  infant  marriage  in  India  may  be  found  in 
the  standard  work  of  Mr.  B.  M.  Malabari,  on  ' '  Infant  Marriage  and  Enforced  Widow- 
hood," published  at  Bombay. 

*  The  Rev.  L.  L.  Uhl,  Ph.D.,  a  Lutheran  missionary  of  Guntur,  India,  writes 
that  there  is,  as  the  effect  of  mission  influence,  "a  wide  prevention  of  early  marriages 
and  of  the  consequent  evil  results.  Many  thousand  intelligent  young  men  and  women 
who  become  Christians  and  are  instructed  in  mission  schools  for  a  number  of  years 
learn  the  folly  of  forced  marriage  and  wish  to  exercise  the  right  of  choice." 

*  At  the  Conference  held  at  Calcutta  in  December,  1896,  the  Hon.  Justice 
Ranade,  in  a  searching  arraignment  of  the  social  evils  of  India,  referred  hopefully 
to  this  problem  as  follows :  "  About  the  question  of  infant  and  unequal  marriages 
there  is  unanimity  of  public  sentiment,  which  is  being  slowly  but  surely  educated 
to  perceive  the  necessity  of  adopting  a  higher  standard  of  age  both  for  boys  and  girls 
than  the  one  which  satisfied  the  generation  that  is  past.  Thanks  to  the  marriage  laws 
passed  in  Mysore,  the  sentiment  in  favour  of  legislation  on  the  subject  is  ripening 
gradually  to  action.  Meantime  private  efforts  to  raise  the  marriageable  age  to  four- 
teen  for  girls  and  to  twenty  for  boys  are  being  actively  encouraged  among  some  of 
the  very  highest  families  by  the  more  advanced  reformers  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
without  meeting  with  much  opposition  from  the  orthodox  classes."— 7"//f /«<//W« 
Magazine  and  Review,  March,  1897,  p.  1 19. 

At  the  Conference  of  1897,  held  at  Amraoti,  the  same  able  advocate  delivered 
an  inaugural  address  upon  "  Revival  and  Reform,"  in  which,  among  other  subjects, 
that  of  infant  marriage  was  discussed,  with  special  emphasis  upon  the  present  hopeful 
outlook.      The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  January  16,  1S98,  pp.  157,  158. 

At  the  Conference  of  1895,  Dr.  Bhandarkar  condemned  energetically  the  unequal 
marriages  of  old  men  to  young  girls,  and  presented  au  indictment  of  the  whole  prac- 


if* 


t 


ili 


234 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


("/■!; 


■1  y 


ings,  are  held  in  various  places,  and  stimulate  zeal  for  reform  in  the 
same  direction.  In  the  second  Provincial  Social  Conference  of  Ma- 
dras, held  April  i8,  1897,  nine  resolutions  bearing  upon  the  evils  of 
Indian  society  were  introduced,  and,  after  full  discussion,  passed.  The 
Indian  Social  Reformer  of  April  25  th  presents  a  full  report.  The  refer- 
ence to  the  subject  in  hand  was  as  follows:  "  In  view  of  the  economi- 
cal and  physical  evils  inseparable  from  the  system  of  early  marriages, 
this  conference  urges  upon  the  community  the  importance  of  adopting 
energetic  measures  for  discouraging  such  marriages,  and  of  asking  for 
the  introduction  of  legislation  on  the  lines  of  the  Mysore  marriage 
regulations."  It  is  customary  also  to  have  lectures  delivered  at  stated 
intervals  before  various  reform  associations ;  in  some  instances  the  lec- 
turer is  a  woman,  and  the  audience  is  composed  exclusively  of  Hindu 
ladies.  All  this  is  in  the  line  of  promoting  changes  which  can  only 
come  as  the  result  of  persistent  and  untiring  agitation.  Something 
really  new,  and  very  remarkable  when  we  consider  the  parties  involved, 
was  a  public  indignation  meeting  held  at  Madras,  and  attended  by  about 
Kve  hundred  people.  The  meeting  was  called  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
testing against  the  marriage  of  a  native  judge,  a  gray-haired  man  of 
fifty-four,  with  a  child  ten  years  of  age.  A  prominent  native  lawyer 
presided  upon  the  occasion,  and  the  proposed  union  was  made  the 
subject  of  vigorous  denunciation,  a  formal  resolution  being  adopted 
as  follows :  "  That  this  meeting  regrets  that  Rai  Bahadur  C.  Venkoba 
Chariar  should  at  his  age,  and  in  spite  of  his  education,  have  resolved 
to  marry  a  girl  of  ten  years,  and  takes  this  opportunity  to  protest  against 
a  system  which  allows  such  ill-assorted  marriages  to  take  place  without 
disapproval."! 

An  important  step  in  the  progress  of  marriage  reform  in  India  still 
remains  to  be  noted.     It  is  the  action  of  the  late  Maharajah  of  Mysore, 

who,  in  1893,  instituted  marriage  regulations  in 

Advanced  legislation    that  large  State  which  represent  the  high-water 

in  Mysore.  ^ark  of  Indian  legislation  under  purely  native 

auspices.  According  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Act,  a  girl  in  Mysore  below  eight  years  of  age  is  regarded  as  an 
infant,  and  a  boy  under  fourteen  in  the  same  light,  and  any  person  who 
causes,  aids,  or  abets  the  marriage  of  either  of  these,  and  any  man 
above  eighteen  who  himself  marries  an  infant  girl,  shall  be  punished 
with  imprisonment  for  a  term  which  may  extend  to  six  months,  or  with 

tice  of  early  marriages,  based  not  only  on  physical  objections,  but  also  upon  those 
of  a  social  and  hi^storical  character. 

I  The  Indian  Social  Kt/omitr,  December  6,  1896,  p.  104. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


236 


a  fine,  or  with  both.  A  further  stipulation  is  that  any  man  over  fifty 
who  marries  a  girl  under  fourteen  is  liable  to  be  punished  with  impris- 
onment for  two  years,  or  with  a  fine,  or  with  both.  Mysore  ranks  sec- 
ond in  importance  among  the  Native  States  of  India,  and  has  a  pop- 
ulation of  about  five  millions.'  Legislation  of  this  character  may  seem 
to  us  of  little  significance,  but  no  one  who  is  familiar  with  public  senti- 
ment, immemorial  custom,  and  the  violent  social  and  religious  prejudices 
of  society  in  India,  can  fail  to  see  the  import  of  the  step,  especially  as 
the  act  of  a  native  Hindu  ruler  who  was  not  a  Christian,  although 
kindly  and  generously  disposed  towards  missionary  work.  The  action 
made  a  powerful,  almost  startling,  impression  throughout  India,  and 
has  formed  a  rallying-cry  for  similar  legislation  elsewhere.^ 

The  most  recent,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  noticeable,  example 
of  the  spread  of  this  spirit  of  reform  is  the  effort  on  the  part  of  two 
members  of  the  present  Legislative  Council  of  Madras  to  secure  the 
passage  of  a  Bill  for  the  prevention  of  infant  marriage  throughout  the 
Presidency.  In  one  of  these  proposed  Bills  the  age  of  ten  years  is 
named  as  the  limit  in  the  case  of  the  girl,  which,  it  will  be  noted,  is 

1  The  Chronicle,  January,  1894,  pp.  22,  23;  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission 
Field,  February,  1895,  pp.  72-75,  October,  1898,  p.  401.  The  regulations  will  be 
found  in  full  in  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  December,  1893,  pp.  519, 
520,  and  in  The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  February  6,  1898,  p.  182. 

»  These  regulations  are  not  by  any  means  a  dead  letter,  and  although  the 
Maharajah  himself  died  December  28,  1894,  and  the  government  of  the  province  dur- 
ing the  minority  of  his  successor  is  in  the  hands  of  an  administrator,  the  Dewan  Sir 
K.  Sheshadri  Iyer,  K.  C.  S.  I.,  still  they  are  enforced  with  impartiality  and  consid- 
erable vigor,  as  the  following  editorial  note  in  The  Inuian  Social  Reformer,  May 
31,  1896,  indicates:  "We  are  glad  to  learn  that  the  Dewan  Sir  K.  Sheshadri  Iyer 
is  determined  to  put  e  t  with  a  strong  hand  infant  marriages  in  Mysore,  as  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  not  a  week  passes  but  some  venerable  bridegrooms  or  the 
guardians  of  infant  vjctims  are  brought  to  book  for  their  share  in  a  hymeneal  atrocity. 
The  punishments  are,  as  a  rule,  not  very  severe,  which  is  but  right,  seeing  that 
these  poor  fellows  are,  after  all,  the  creatures  of  society.  It  is  society  as  a  whole  that 
should  be  whipped  into  common  sense." 

Another  note  from  the  same  journal,  February  8,  1896,  is  worth  quoting  as  an 
additional  illustration  of  the  free  and  firm  tone  with  which  Indian  reformers,  while 
still  Hindus  in  religion,  are  accustomed  to  refer  to  this  reprehensible  feature  of 
Indian  social  life:  "  We  have  long  thought  Government  should  pass  a  marriage  law 
for  the  Hindus  who  glory  in  the  most  absurd  custom  of  child  and  infant  marriages.  If 
satiaa  be  prevented,  we  do  not  see  why  infants  who  are  married  when  they  know  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  the  world  cannot  be  given  an  option  as  to  their  continuing  in  matrimo- 
nial bonds  when  they  become  of  age.  Those  who  talk  big  on  the  sanctity  of  marriage 
will  feel  horrified  at  this  idea.  But  we  think,  and  we  deliberately  commit  our  thought 
to  writing  in  these  columns,  that  marriage  can  be  satisfied  only  by  true  love,  mutual 
trnit  and  respect,  perfect  equality,  and  unity  of  convictions  and  aspirations. " 


I 


fl 


lit 


236 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


II 


ilf 


higher  by  two  years  than  the  age  fixed  in  the  Mysore  regulations. 
The  other  Bill  names  eight  years  as  the  limit,  following  in  this  respect 
the  legislation  in  Mysore.  The  two  Hindu  gentlemen  who  are  the 
leaders  in  the  agitation  are  prominent  in  both  political  and  social 
circles.  They  seem  to  have  conceived  independently  of  each  other 
the  purpose  to  introduce  these  Bills  to  the  Legislative  Council  of  the 
Madras  Government,  neither  of  them  being  connected  with  social  re- 
form organizations,  but  basing  their  opposition  to  the  custom  of  infant 
marriage  on  the  claim  that  it  is  an  innovation  and  corruption  not  au- 
thorized by  the  Shastras.  The  Hon.  R.  Pillai,  who  advocates  in  his 
proposed  Bill  the  limit  of  ten  years  for  the  girl,  names  "  liability  to 
criminal  prosecution  "  as  the  penalty  of  non-compliance.  The  Hon.  J. 
Mudaliar,  who  places  the  limit  at  eight  years,  proposes  "  imprisonment 
or  fine  "  as  possible  punishments  to  parents,  guardians,  or  other  per- 
sons who  transgress.  These  incidents  are  noteworthy,  because  of  the 
clear  indication  they  give  of  a  movement  from  within  the  higher  oflScial 
ranks  of  Hindu  legislators,  and  are  for  this  reason  a  salient  indication 
of  advancing  public  opinion.^ 

Although  child  marriage  as  found  in  India  is  a  far  more  serious  evil 

than  elsewhere,  yet  in  all  Asiatic  and  African  countries  it  prevails  to  an 

extent  which  justifies  earnest  efforts  to  introduce 

Miisions  are  every-     ^ore  humane  and  sensible  customs.     Female  edu- 

where  rebuking  the  bar-  . 

barity  of  child  marriage,  cation  IS  immensely  helpful  to  this  end,  and  the 
general  elevation  of  the  social  status  of  woman  is 
working  steadily  in  the  same  direction.  Woman  herself  ceases  to  be  a 
mere  chattel,  and  marriage  becomes  less  and  less  a  matter  of  bargain 
and  sale,  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  education,  refinement,  and 
self-respect  which  she  attains.  In  China,  Japan,  and  Korea,  a  truer 
estimate  of  the  Christian  dignity  of  marriage  already  pervades  mission 
communities,  and  is  beginning  to  be  accepted  more  widely.  A  higher 
consideration  is  now  shown  for  the  preferences  and  feelings  of  those 
immediately  concerned  in  a  marriage  contract.  In  ordinary  Chinese 
society  gross  deception  often  characterizes  a  betrothal,  and  this,  of 
course,  generates  discontent  and  unhappiness.^  Christian  customs  do 
away  with  these  objectionable  features. 

1  Cf.  The  Christian  Patriot  (Madras),  February  5,  1898,  which  contains  the 
text  of  both  Bills ;  also  The  Indian  Social  Re/oitner,  January  30,  1898,  February 
13,  20,  and  27,  1898,  and  March  13  and  27,  1898,  for  articles,  discussions,  and  vari- 
ous memoranda  bearing  upon  the  subject. 

2  "Marriages  are  arranged  by  parents  through  go-betweens,  usually  without 
reference  to  the  wishes  of  the  young  people  or  their  suitability  to  each  other,  but 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


237 


i 

._ 

•' 


In  Moslem  lands  the  old  barbarism  will  yield  slowly,  but  when 
Christianity  breaks  the  iron  bondage  of  Mohammedan  custom,  as  it  is 
bound  to  do,  a  happier  day  will  dawn  for  the  victims  of  the  harem  sys- 
tem, who  are  now  practically  without  protection.  From  the  South  Seas, 
amid  the  grossest  traditions  of  savagery,  a  missionary  writes  concerning 
changes  in  the  Island  of  Tonga :  "  Marriages  were  arranged  by  parents 
while  the  parties  were  infants.  .  .  .  Since  the  influence  of  Christianity 
has  been  felt  on  the  islands,  this  hateful  custom  has  fallen  into  disrepute. 
Marriages  are  now  arranged  by  the  young  men  and  maidens  them- 
selves." 1  In  the  Island  of  Java,  where  the  Dutch  missionaries  have 
been  so  busy,  many  improvements  in  social  customs  may  be  noted. 
Marriages  among  the  Mohammedan  populace  take  place  when  the  girls 
are  only  seven,  but  among  the  Christian  converts  they  are  deferred 
until  they  are  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  "  then  permitted 
only  on  the  request  of  the  youth  and  the  consent  of  the  girl."  2  From 
the  Island  of  Trinidad  comes  the  decisive  statement,  through  the  Rev. 
J.  Morton,  D.D.,  of  the  Canadian  Presbyterian  Mission,  that  "  child 
marriage  is  abolished,  and  children  are  not  forced  to  wed  against  their 
wishes."  When  we  reflect  upon  the  social  value  of  true  and  happy 
marriages,  the  import  of  changes  like  these  is  manifest. 


II 


I 


always  with  regard  to.the  social  standing,  wealth,  and  prestige  of  the  families,  and 
the  advantages  the  alliance  may  bring.  In  the  present  state  of  society  the  only  pro- 
vision to  be  made  for  a  woman's  support  is  marriage.  Women  have  no  claims  upon 
their  own  relatives,  but  only  on  those  of  their  husband,  and  the  reliance  of  both  men 
and  women  for  care  and  support  in  sickness  or  old  age,  and  for  decent  burial,  is  on 
their  sons  and  daughters-in-law ;  therefore  everybody  ought  to  marry  early,  and  the 
more  helpless  and  dependent  boys  and  girls  may  be— blind,  deaf,  crippled,  imbecile, 
epileptic— the  more  important  that  they  be  married ;  boys,  so  that  they  will  have 
somebody  to  wait  upon  them;  girls,  so  that  they  will  have  somebody  to  support 
them.  There  are  no  charitable  institutions  of  any  class  in  China  for  the  relief  of 
such  unfortunates.  Their  only  hope  is  marriage.  Go-betweens,  like  everybody  else 
here,  will  lie,  and  sometimes  they  are  deceived,  and  etiquette  requires  that  neither 
of  the  young  people  shall  be  seen  before  the  wedding-day  by  any  member  of  the 
other's  family,  so  it  often  happens  that  a  desirable  match  is  made  for  these  unfortu- 
nates. If  such  a  thing  is  not  possible,  they  are  mated  with  each  other  as  best  may 
be.  I  know  two  young  men,  each  of  whom  on  bringing  home  his  bride  on  his  wed- 
ding-day found  her  an  idiot,  and  one  young  girl  in  a  high  family  was  married  to  a 
badly  deformed  imbecile,  covered  with  loathsome  sores ;  and  I  am  acquainted  with 
other  similar  but  less  grievous  cases.  Christianity  has  already  established  in  China 
many  families  whose  lives  are  governed  by  Christian  principles,  and  whose  members 
live  together  in  the  enjoyment  of  great  happiness."— The  late  Mrs.  C.  W.  Mateer 
(P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Tungchow,  China. 

1  Michelsen,  "Cannibals  Won  for  Christ,"  pp.  135,  136. 

*  Tht  Gospel  in  all  Lands,  May,  1895,  p.  505. 


.   I      ■  T:{ 


238 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PHOCRESS 


:  J  ■ 


J 


5.  Alleviating  the  Social  Miseries  of  WinowiiooD.  — In  many 

heathen  lands  a  widow  is  "  a  widow  indeed  "  in  the  sorrow,  isolation, 

and  bondage  of  her  lot.     The  fact  that  death  has 

^".rifAhirb'cu^"-  ^^P"^'^^  »>"  °^  ^  husband  places  her  under  a 
m«nt  of  MiM.  ban,  and  robs  her  of  even  that  limited  meed  of 
consideration  which  is  shown  to  ordinary  woman- 
hood. The  climax  of  this  cruel  status  was  in  that  saturnalia  of  hea- 
thenism, the  sati,  or  burning  alive  of  widows,  once  so  prevalent  in 
India.  The  first  protest  ever  made  against  it  with  any  aggressive 
purpose  was  in  1799,  by  a  missionary,  William  Carey,  and  this  was 
the  beginning  of  the  agitation  for  its  overthrow.!  The  final  abolish- 
ment came  only  after  fully  thirty  years  of  persevering  effort,  when 
the  British  Government,  with  Lord  William  Bentinck  as  its  honored 
instrument,  issued  in  1829  its  memorable  order  for  the  legal  prohibi- 
tion of  sati.  The  action  of  the  Government  referred,  of  course,  only 
to  British  India.     Sati  was  still  practised  for  some  time  in  the  Native 

»  Dr.  Carey  wrote  in  1801 :  "  I  consider  that  the  burning  of  women,  the  bury- 
ing  of  them  alive  with  their  husbands,  the  exposure  of  infants,  and  the  sacrifice  of 
children  at  Saugor,  ought  not  to  be  permitted,  whatever  religious  motives  are  pre- 
tended, because  they  are  crimes  against  the  State." 

In  a  letter  of  Carey's,  inserted  in  his  Biography  by  Dr.  George  Smith  (p.  94), 
one  of  these  horrid  rites  which  Carey  himself  witnessed  in  1799  is  described. 
He  and  his  colleagues  continued  the  agitation  against  sati,  and  struggled  to  induce 
the  British  Government  to  forbid  the  custom.  They  proceeded  to  fortify  their 
appeal  by  collecting  evidence  of  the  extensive  prevalence  of  the  crime.  Careful 
investigation  in  1804  revealed  the  fact  that  within  a  circle  of  thirty  miles  around 
Calcutta  more  than  three  hundred  widows  had  been  immolated  on  the  funeral  pyre 
during  a  period  of  six  months.  Lord  Wellesley  was  then  Governor-General,  but 
just  as  Carey  had  almost  succeeded  in  securing  the  intervention  of  the  Government, 
Lord  Wellesley  retired  from  office,  and  it  was  in  1829,  fully  a  quarter  of  a  century 
later,  before  the  Act  was  finally  passed,  while,  as  Carey  waited  and  prayed,  "  every 
day  saw  the  devilish  smoke  ascending  along  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  and  the  rivers 
and  pools  considered  sacred  by  the  Hindus."  Thus  years  of  enforced  delay  wit- 
nessed the  destruction  of  70,000  victims  of  this  atrocious  iniquity.  The  proclamation 
of  Lord  William  Bentinck  abolishing  the  sati,  and  declaring  it  to  be  punishable  as 
homicide,  reached  Dr.  Carey  one  Sunday  morning  when  he  was  engaged  in  prepara- 
tion lor  his  preaching  service.  He  immediately  called  for  some  one  else  to  take  his 
place,  and  seizing  his  pen,  he  translated  the  order  into  Bengali,  and  had  it  issued  in 
the  Bengali  Gazette.  "  If  I  defay  an  hour,"  he  exclaimed,  "  to  translate  and  pub- 
lish this,  many  a  widow's  life  may  be  sacrificed."  Thus,  on  the  4th  of  Decemlier, 
1829,-"  memorable  date,"  as  Dr.  Smith  calls  it,  "  to  be  classed  with  that  on  which, 
soon  after,  800,000  slaves  were  set  free,—'  the  Ganges  flowed  unblooded  to  the  sea ' 
for  the  first  time."  Consult  Smith,  "  Life  of  William  Carey,"  pp.  65,  94,  247,  252 ; 
Home,  ' '  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, "  p.  99 ;  Bliss, ' '  The  Encyclo- 
pedia of  Missions,"  vol.  i.,  p.  235. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOS'S 


239 


States,  but  it  grew  more  and  more  into  disrepute.  An  incident  is 
given  by  a  lady  missionary  in  a  paper  in  commemoration  of  the  six- 
tieth year  of  the  Queen's  reign,  entitled  "  Progress  among  the  Women 
of  Bengal  during  the  Reign  of  Queen  Victoria,"  published  in  The 
Indian  Evangelical  Review  lot  October,  1897,  which  shows  that  the 
burning  of  widows  and  slaves  was  still  possible  in  some  of  the  Feuda- 
tory States  in  1 839.  The  account  is  as  follows :  "  Foiur  of  the  wives 
of  Ranjit  Singh  (of  the  Punjab),  veiled  and  clothed  in  white  silk,  held 
the  hands  of  the  corpse  as  he  was  about  to  be  cremated.  Seven  of  his 
fair  and  beauteous  slave  girls  sat  at  the  body's  feet  while  the  flames  from 
the  sandalwood  and  aloes  consumed  all  that  was  mortal  of  their  master, 
after  the  son,  Dhulep  Singh,  had  fired  the  pyre.  The  blaze  of  that 
funeral  pyre  cast  a  lurid  light  on  the  Native  States  of  India  in  1839, 
of  which  we  know  nothing  in  1897."  The  Abb^  Dubois,  in  "  Hindu 
Manners,  Customs,  and  Ceremonies,"  describes  similar  scenes  where 
he  himself  was  present.' 

The  cessation  of  this  ghastly  crime,  which,  it  may  be  noted,  had 
no  support  in  early  Vedic  literature,*  although  a  most  important  gain 
in  the  direction  of  reform,  was  not  all  that  was  to 
be  desired  for  the  alleviation  of  the  widow's  lot. 
Christian  missions  have  been  working  steadily 
and  with  strenuous  purpose  for  nearly  a  centiuy 
to  lift  still  further  the  burdens  and  mitigate  the  woes  which  rest  upon 
widowhood.  The  British  Government,  so  far  as  it  felt  justified,  has 
given  its  powerful  cooperation  in  overcoming  the  barriers  existing  in 
Hindu  society,  chiefly  by  reason  of  caste  rules,  superstitious  prejudices, 
and  social  customs,  which  make  the  marriage  of  widows  so  difficult. 
Indian  public  sentiment,  however,  fortified  by  flinty  obstinacy,  has 
been  stubborn  and  sullen  about  accepting  any  change  in  the  tradi- 
tional status.  The  Widow  Marriage  Act,  passed  by  Lord  Canning  in 
1856,  simply  removed  legal  obstacles  to  such  marriages,  but  it  has 
met  with  little  support  from  Hindu  concurrence,  and  its  provisions 
have  been  to  an  amazing  extent  a  dead  letter  for  over  forty  years. 
Tlie  Indian  Social  Reformer  for  June  20,  1897,  in  an  editorial  on 
"Sixty  Years  of  Social  Progress,"  estimates  the  entire  number  of 
widow  marriages  during  that  period  to  be  not  more  than  two  hun- 
dred. As  we  shall  see,  they  have  gradually  become  more  frequent  of 
late  years.  The  Rev.  David  Downie,  D.D.,  of  Nellore,  says :  "  Widow 
marriage  is  increasing.     This  is  due  directly  to  missions."     Another 

1  See  vol.  ii.,  new  ed.,  1897,  chap,  xix.,  pp,  359-370. 
»  Wilkins,  "  Modern  Hinduism,"  p.  377, 


Further  amellorationa 
of  the  condition  of  In- 
dian widowa. 


i 


i 


m 


a 


1^ 


r  M 

H 


M    ^ 


m 


n 


l.'.»0 


CHRISTIAA'  M/SS/ONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


missionary— the  Rev.  W.  A.  Wilson  (C,  P.  M.),of  Rutlam— writes  that 
"  there  is  good  evidence  that  through  the  spread  of  Christian  teaching 
widows  are  now  better  treated.  The  belief  that  a  husband  dies 
because  of  his  wife's  sins  is  being  slowly  displaced  by  other  views  of 
the  divine  providence,  and  the  anger  of  her  husband's  relatives  is  not 
vented  upon  her  as  when  she  was  looked  upon  as  cursed  of  the  gods 
and  the  direct  cause  of  the  calamity.  Her  sufferings  are  still  great 
enough,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that,  where  the  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity are  at  all  well  known,  her  miseries  are  greatly  mitigated. 
Public  opinion  is  changing,  and  is  making  itself  felt." 

The  lamentable  features  of  Indian  widowhood  have  been  briefly 

stated  in  Vol.  I.  (pp.  123,  124),*  where  it  is  shown  that  nearly  every 

fifth  woman  in  India  is  a  widow,  and  that  the 

The  gradual  patting  of  total  number  of  thcsc  unfortunates  is  at  present 

■  itrangc  and  cruel  ,  ,  ,  .,,.  _,,  .,       ,  .  , 

oitracitm.  "ot  l^ss  than  twenty-fivc  millions.     The  evils  which 

follow  in  the  train  of  this  strange  and  cruel  ostra- 
cism, affecting  as  it  does  in  so  many  instances  the  tender  years  of 
innocent  girlhood,  only  accentuate  the  call  for  a  complete  revolution 
in  Indian  thinking  upon  this  subject.  The  prejudice  against  widow 
marriage  is  still  almost  prohibitive  throughout  India,  especially  among 
all  the  higher  castes,  with  the  exception  of  certain  sections  of  the 
North-VVest  Provinces,  where  considerable  freedom  in  the  matter  is 
tolerated.2  A  perusal  of  the  writings  of  Indian  reformers,  whether 
Hindu  or  Christian,  reveals  at  once  to  those  who  read  between  the 
lines  the  terrible  helplessness  of  a  widow's  lot,  and  the  perilous  temp- 
tations which  crowd  around  her.  She  is  looked  upon  by  the  great 
majority  of  Hindus  as  an  easy  victim,  a  species  of  social  outcast,  and 
the  destined  prey  of  wanton  passion.  She  herself,  being  doomed  to  a 
loveless  and  lonely  isolation,  is  without  the  natural  safeguards  of  self- 
respect  and  protection  which  she  needs.  The  chaotic  state  of  Hindu 
sentiment  on  this  subject  is  apparent  when  we  contrast  its  inflexible 
attitude  towards  young  widows,  whom  it  consigns  for  life  to  an  un- 
natural deprivation,  with  the  sanction  it  gives  to  the  immediate  remar- 
riage of  a  widower  any  number  of  times,  and,  as  often  happens,  it 
may  be  the  union  of  old  men  with  young  girls  hardly  in  their  teens. 
Mr.  B.  M.  Malabari  has  described  in  his  courageous  way  many  of  the 
dark  features  of  this  burden  of  Indian  widowhood — the  almost  inevi- 
table fall  of  the  widow,  infanticide  with  hot  ashes  choking  the  breath 


1  Cf.  also  Dubois,  "  Hindu  Manners,   Customs,  and  Ceremonies,'' 
1897,  vol.  ii.,  p.  356. 

2  Crooke,  "  The  North- Western  Provinces  of  India,"  pp.  228,  229. 


new  ed.. 


THE  SOCIAL  KESULTS  OF  Ml  SSI  OS'S 


241 


of  her  new-bom  babe,  or  possibly  a  hasty  recourse,  before  the  child  is 
bom,  to  a  ceremony  which  is  suggestively  called  "  a  cold  suttee." ' 

A  careful  distinction  is  made  by  educated  Indian  reformers,  in  the 
discussion  of  this  question,  between  the  status  of  widowhood  when  it 
is  voluntarily  maintained,  and  the  law  of  Hindu  society  enforcing 
perpetual  widowhood  under  the  ban  of  contumely.  In  an  address  at 
the  Social  Conference  held  at  Poona,  1895,  Mr.  K.  Natarajan,  in  moving 
.1  resolution  on  the  disfigurement  of  child  widows,  spoke  as  follows : 
"  With  regard  to  widows,  I  personally  feel,  and  there  are  a  large  number 
of  us  who  feel,  that  the  sentiment  which  impels  a  man  or  woman,  out 
of  regard  to  the  memory  of  the  dear  departed,  to  lead  a  life  of  pure, 
unworldly  celibacy  is  one  which  appeals  to  all  that  is  holiest  in  human 
nature.  With  widowhood  as  such  we  have  no  quarrel.  But  we  ought 
to  make  a  distinction  between  that  which  is  enforced  and  that  which 
is  voluntary.  Voluntary  widowhood  is  holy ;  enforced  widowhood  is 
an  iniquity.  It  is  the  enforced  character  of  our  system  which  makes 
it  so  great  an  evil.  The  disfigurement  alluded  to  in  the  resolution 
makes  this  custom  a  hideous  iniquity."  * 

If  we  turn  now  to  inquire  what  has  been  actually  accomplished  by 
missions  in  India  in  the  direction  of  reforming  these  evils,  we  not- 
the  existence  of  societies  especially  for  the  aid 
of  widows,  having  in   view   the    alleviation   of  .JpVoni'd'b'y  th."c^p. 
their  lot  and  the  elevation  of  their  lives.     The       er«tionof  nativi 
Indian  Widows'  Union,  auxiliary  to  the  Church  "formen. 

of  England  Zenana  Missionary  Society,  is  doing  a  kindly  and  efficient 
ser\-ice  in  this  sphere  of  ministry.  At  the  Chicago  Columbian  Ex- 
hibition a  medal  was  awarded  for  needlework  done  in  an  Industrial 
Institute  for  Widows  connected  with  the  above-named  society.  There 
are  also  in  India  reform  societies  established  under  missionary  and 

»  "  And  woe  be  to  her  [the  widow]  if  she  belongs  to  a  respectable  family. 
Then  they  get  np  a  cersmony  in  her  honour,  which  they  call  a  cold  sutlte.  They 
serve  her  with  the  best  of  viands,  they  ply  her  with  sweet  intoxicants,  and  they  cap 
her  last  supper  on  earth  with  something  that  will  settle  their  business.  The  widow 
is  soon  cold  in  death,  and  is  forthwith  carried  off  to  the  burning-ground  (the  pious 
Hindu  can't  keep  a  corpse  in  his  house  for  ten  minutes).  This  cold  suttee  means  a 
double  murder.  Let  us  hope  it  is  a  very  rare  practice."— Gidumal,  "  Behraniji 
M.  Malabari:  A  Biographical  Sketch,"  p.  198. 

*  The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  January  11,  1896.  Cf.  article  in  The  Church 
Missionary  Intelligencer,  November,  1893,  on  "  Missions  or  Science  the  Maker  of 
India's  Homes?"  by  the  Rev.  G.  Ensor,  especially  pp.  809,  810;  also  article  on 
"  Social  Progress  in  Inuia,"  by  the  Rev.  T.  H.  WLitaniore,  in  V^ork  and  Workers 
in  the  Mission  Field,  June,  1894,  pp.  250-252. 


Mil 


III 


343 


CIIKISTIAX  MISSIOXS  AXD   SOCIAL   PKOGKESS 


■  ;< 
I 


ii  ■l.i 


native  auspices,  ucnally  under  the  title  of  "  Widow  Remarriage  Amo- 
ciations,"  the  object  of  which  it  to  encourage  and  facilitate  the  mar- 
riage of  widows  liy  moral  and  social  support.  The  memorable  cnuade 
of  Mr.  B.  M.  Malabari '  has  now  t>ecome  only  one  of  many  heroic 
efforts  on  the  jiart  of  enlightened  Hindus  to  create  a  change  of  senti- 
nient  in  Indian  society  upon  this  vexing  problem.  He  has  had  as 
<  onttmporaries  and  followers  such  accomplished  Indian  reformers  as 
kao  Sahib  Mahipatram  Rupram  Nilkanth,  C.I.E.,  Iswar  Chandra 
Vidyasagar,  C.I.E.,  Rao  Bahadur  Veeresalingam  Fantulu,  and  Mad- 
havdas  Raghunathdas,-*  the  latter  of  whom  was  called  "a  champion 
of  Hindu  widow  remarriage,"  nnd  whose  home  at  Girgaum,  near 
Bombay,  was  known  as  the  "  Widow  Marriage  Hall,"  owing  to  his 
readiness  in  allowing  it  to  be  used  for  the  celebration  of  such  mar- 
riages, and  the  refuge  from  persecution  which  it  afforded  to  Hindu 
widows.  Since  1871  more  than  twenty-five  widow  marriages  have 
taken  place  within  its  doors,  and  others  have  followed  since  his  death 
in  1896,  as  his  son,  Mr.  Bhagwandas  Madhavdas,  seems  to  cherish 
views  similar  to  those  held  by  his  father. 

Thus  the  colossal  and  Hindu-heartrending  revolution  involved  in 
the  marriage  of  innocent  young  girls  who  have  become  widows  goes 
bravely  on.  It  is  still  such  a  paralyzing  innovation  that  every  widow 
marriage  which  occurs  in  India  is  regarded  among  reformers  as  a 
proper  opporturity  for  congratulations,  and  for  somewhat  sensational 
references  in  the  Hindu  public  press.3  The  fact  is  slowly  gaining 
credence,  on  the  strength  of  the  judicial  opinion  of  learned  pundits, 
that  widow  marriage  is  not  contrary  to  the  Vedas  and  Shastras.* 

1  Gi(lun\al,  "  Bcliramji  M.  Maliibari:  A  Biographical  Sketch,"  pp.  195-201; 
Karkaria,  "  India:  Forty  Years  of  Progress  and  Reform;  being  a  Sketch  of  the  Life 
and  Times  of  Behraniji  M.  Malabari,"  pp.  1 19-130. 

*  Progress,  May,   1 896,  p.   1 26. 

*  In  the  Ninth  Indian  National  Social  Conference  of  1895  the  resolution  upon 
widow  marriage  began  as  follows:  "  The  Conference  expresses  its  satisfaction  that 
tliis  year,  as  in  the  two  or  three  years  past,  some  ten  marriages  of  widows  have 
taken  place,  five  in  the  Presidency  of  Bombay,  one  in  Madras,  and  four  in  the  Pun- 
jab, and  it  congratulates  Dewan  Santrama,  of  Lahore,  on  the  moral  courage  shown 
by  him  in  this  connection."—  Tie  liuUnn  Social  Reformer,  January  18,  1896,  p.  151. 

*  "A  high-caste  Hindu  at  Lahore,  Dewan  Sam  Ram  Chopra,  has  given  his 
widowed  daughter  in  marriage,  and  has  publicly  slated  that  the  pundits  of  Benares, 
Allahabad,  Jammu,  and  other  places,  have  pronounced  that  remarriage  was  allowed 
by  the  V'odas  and  Shastras.  He  also  said  that  a  committee  of  gentlemen  had  been 
formed  with  the  object  of  arranging  for  the  marriage  of  child  widows,  with  due 
regard  to  caste  and  family."— 7",*^ /Wia/i  Magatint  and  Rnitw,  February,  1896, 
p.  III. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


343 


Special  lervice  in  the  elucidation  of  thii  fact  has  been  rendered  by 
Pundit  liwar  Chandra  Vid*''>«agar,  late  Principal  of  the  Sanicrit  Col- 
lege, Calcutta.!  Every  r  in  the  interest  of  social  reform  gives 
more  definite  expreuion  au..  x.iparts  an  added  impulse  to  the  agita- 
tion. As  an  illustration  we  may  quote  the  resolution  which  was  moved 
at  the  Second  Provincial  Social  Conference  of  Madras,  held  April  i8, 
1897,  which  is  as  follows:  "While  readily  acknowledging  that  a  life 
of  voluntary  abnegation  is  worthy  of  respec:  in  mnn  and  woman  alike, 
this  Conference  considers  it  unjust  and  inhuman  to  force  upon  women, 
especially  young  girls,  a  life  of  celibacy,  accompanied,  as  it  is,  with 
circumstances  of  painful  humiliation.  It  therefore  urges  on  the  com- 
munities in  which  widow  marriage  is  prohibited  the  justice  and  desir- 
ability of  abolishing  the  existing  restrictions  on  the  remarriage  of 
widows."  ^  Addresses  which  are  often  weighty  and  powerful  pleas  for 
the  deliverance  of  Indian  widowhood  from  its  crushing  stigmas  are 
generally  a  feature  of  these  gatherings.^ 

The  Maharani- Regent  of  Mysore,  herself  now  a  widow,  is  taking  a 
kindly  and  sympathetic  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  women  of  that 
State  who  have  suffered  the  same  affliction  that  she  has  recently 
experienced.  She  has  opened  in  her  school  two  special  classes  for 
training  adult  Hindu  widows  for  the  profession  of  teaching,  and  there 
is  a  prospect  that  her  powerful  influence  will  be  still  further  exerted  on 
behalf  of  widows.*  The  spirit  of  protest  on  the  part  of  native  Hindu 
reformers  is  especially  directed  just  now  against  the  customary  dis- 
figurement of  *xidows.  The  shaven  head  is  a  bitter  and  cruel  affront 
to  Hindu  women.  Tlie  Indian  Spectator  says  truly  that  "  this  is  and 
ought  to  be  a  crime.  Hardly  lives  a  widow  who  agrees  to  it  of  her  free 
will  and  accord."  It  is  the  contention  of  this  able  journal  that  the  "  law 
should  step  in  to  protect  all  minors.     Many  a  parent,  even  orthodox 


I  5| 

11 


1  The  Indian  Magazine  and  Review,  March,  1896,  p.  163;  April,  1896,  pp.  205, 
306. 

'   The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  April  35,  1 897,  p.  267. 

>  Examples  may  be  found  in  the  address  of  Mr.  K.  Srinivasa  Rao,  B.A.,  at 
Poena  (see  The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  February  i,  1896,  p.  164),  and  in  a  lecture 
by  Mr.  G.  Parameswaran  Pillai,  B.A.,  Editor  of  The  Madras  Standard,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Saidapet  Hinda  Social  Reform  Association,  March  28,  1896  (ibid.,  April 
4,  1896,  p.  337).  In  response  to  a  prize  offered  by  The  Indian  Social  Reforvier  for 
the  best  contribution  on  the  subject  of  widow  remarriage,  an  article  of  some  length, 
dealing  with  the  cru  ,  salient  points  of  the  theme,  by  Mr.  A.  Sethuraman,  B.A., 
of  Mahboob  College,  Secunderabad,  is  published  in  full,  ihid..  May  23  and  30,  1897. 

♦  The  Indian  Magazine  and  Rez-iezv,  December,  1S95,  p.  643;  The  Chrutian 
Patriot,  Madras,  Jaly  4,  1895. 


P 


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244 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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ones,  will  inwardly  bless  Government  if  it  makes  the  disfigurement  of 
widows  below  sixteen,  with  or  without  consent,  a  crime  punishable 
under  the  Indian  Penal  Code." »  This  indignity,  it  may  be  noted,  is 
not  called  for  in  the  ancient  sacred  books  of  the  Hindus.^ 

No  statement  of  the  hopeful  aspects  of  this  reform  movement  would 

be  complete  without  mention  of  the  homes  for  widows  which  are  now 

established  in  many  places  throughout  India,  and 

Ju^r:;?„r/rnV.-  ^'"  "°  ^^^"^^  g™^  •«  ""■"bars  as  time  goes  on. 

hmif  of  Indian  widowa.  Chief  among  them  may  be  mentioned  that  of  the 
Pundita  Ramabai,  in  Poona,  whose  romantic  his- 
tory is  referred  to  so  often  in  current  missionary  literature.'  She  was 
born  of  Hindu  parentage  in  April,  1858,  her  father  being  a  learned 
Brahman  pundit,  and  was  married  at  the  age  of  sixteen  to  a  Bengali 
gentleman,  a  graduate  of  the  Calcutta  University.  She  became  a 
widow  after  nineteen  months  of  happy  married  life.  A  little  daughter 
was  born  to  her  a  few  months  before  her  husband's  death,  whom  she 
named  Manorama,  or  "  Heart's  Joy."  She  afterwards  engaged  as  a  lec- 
turer in  the  advocacy  of  a  higher  life  and  larger  opportunity  for  Hindu 
women,  and  founded  in  Poona  a  society  of  ladies,  known  as  the  Arya 
Mahala  Somaj,  for  the  promotion  of  education  among  native  women 
and  the  discouragement  of  child  marriage.  Later  she  visited  England, 
and  enjoyed  there  educational  opportunities  which  fitted  her  for  fu- 
ture responsibilities.  Her  contact  with  Englishwomen  at  St.  Mar>''s 
Home,  Wantage,  and  at  the  Ladies'  College  at  Cheltenham,  was  a 
blessing  to  her.  In  1886  she  visited  America,  where  she  studied  thor- 
oughly the  kindergarten  system.  Work  for  Indian  wMows  was  the 
chosen  field  of  service  towards  which  she  looked,  and  with  this  in  view 
a  society  called  the  Ramabai  Association  was  formed  in  Boston  in 
December,  1887,  which  pledged  her  a  stipulated  support  for  ten  years. 
She  returned  to  Bombay,  and  founded  the  Sharada  Sadan,  or  "  Widows' 

1  Quoted  in  The  Indian  Social  Reformer,  August  30,  1896,  p.  408. 

2  "  The  leading  lawgivers  of  old  times,  and  the  great  epics  Ramayana  and 
Mahabharata,  make  no  mention  of  it  [shaving  the  head  in  mourning]  in  the  many 
detailed  accounts  they  give  of  funeral  obsequies  and  subsequent  mournings.  On 
the  contrary,  they  describe  widows  with  '  dishevelled  hair.'  Down  to  the  times  of 
Buddhism  we  find  no  trace  of  the  practice.  The  earlier  lawgivers  allow  widows  a 
remarriage."— Article  from  The  Indian  Spectator,  quoted  in  The  Indian  Social 
Reformer,  May  16,  1897,  p.  295. 

3  For  a  sketch  of  her  life,  consult  Chapman,  "  Sketches  of  Some  Distinguished 
Indian  Women,"  pp.  26-47;  Satthianadhan,  "  Sketches  of  Indian  Christians," 
pp.  220-227;  The  Missionary  Rei'iew  of  the  IVorld,  September,  1897,  pp.  669-674; 
The  Outlook,  May  29,  1897,  pp.  243,  274. 


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111 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


94S 


Home,"  which  was  afterwards  removed  to  Poona,  where  it  is  still  con- 
ducted. 

Ramabai's  views  on  some  of  the  essentials  of  evangelical  truth  had 
up  to  this  date  not  attained  the  status  of  clear  conviction  which  was  sub- 
sequently reached.  Her  school  was  established  without  a  distinctively 
religious  purpose,  and  without  the  intention  of  proselyting  in  the  inter- 
ests of  Christianity,  although  full  liberty  of  conscience  was  accorded  to 
every  inmate.*  Subsequently  her  faith  in  evangelical  Christianity  be- 
came more  pronounced,  and  gave  a  decided  tone  and  direction  to  her 
religious  life.  The  result  of  this  was  that  several  of  the  widows  under 
her  care  were  brought,  as  it  was  thought,  too  directly  under  Christian 
influence.  This  awakened  much  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Hindu 
supporters  of  her  Home,  which  culminated  in  the  withdrawal  of  several 
from  her  advisory  committee,  and  caused  in  1893  a  violent  outbreak 
of  criticism  and  false  accusations.  She  bore  this  with  courage  and 
fortitude,  and  an  unshaken  loyalty  to  her  convictions.  A  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  committee  of  the  institution  followed,  and  since  then  it  has 
been  conducted  as  a  Christian  Home,  with  a  manifest  power  to  mould 
the  religious  views  and  practices  of  its  inmates,  so  much  so  that  twelve 
of  them,  about  two  years  later,  sought  Christian  baptism,  which  aroused 
another  storm  of  protest.^    The  number  had  increased  to  twenty- 

1  "  Ramabai  has  promised  not  to  proselytise,  and  that  engagement  she  has 
faithfully  kept.  Some  have  confused  this  promise  with  a  pledge  not  to  influence. 
To  that  she  did  not  commit  herself,  for  it  would  have  been  promising  an  impossi- 
bility. No  one  with  a  strong  personality  can  help  making  an  impression  upon 
others.  The  most  powerful  influence  is  often  the  most  unconscious.  Ramabai's 
pupils  can  no  more  help  being  moulded  by  her  than  they  can  help  breathing  the 
same  atmosphere,  and  if  some  of  them  are  drawn  towards  Christianity  by  the  noble 
exemplification  of  it  they  see  daily  before  their  eyes,  neither  she  nor  they  are  to  be 
blamed.  Were  Ramabai  incapable  of  thus  silently  and  involuntarily  moving  those 
with  whom  she  is  brought  into  daily  contact,  she  would  not  have  possessed  the 
individuality  necessary  to  originate  and  carry  out  the  difficult  task  she  has  under- 
taken."—T*/** /»«</»an  jl/a^jj/W  <i«</^«'i>a',  April,  1894,  pp.  201,  202. 

*  "  A  Bombay  Christian  paper  pertinently  remarks :  '  Did  the  city  of  sacred 
bulls  and  secular  bears  expect  other  results  from  the  working  of  a  Christian  Home 
for  Hindu  widows  and  orphans  ?  Pundita  Ramabai  first  ofTered  to  start  her  work 
in  the  interests  of  Brahmanism,  and  lavish  promises  were  made  her ;  sore  at  heart 
and  disappointed  in  her  countrymen,  this  daughter  of  Maharastra  went  over  to 
another  land  and  another  faith.  She  returned  from  the  United  States  bringing 
with  her  the  funds  for  founding  a  Home  for  high-caste  Hindu  widows.  Those 
who  sent  their  wards  to  her  institution  did  it  with  their  eyes  open ;  we  fail  to  see 
any  breach  of  faith  so  far  on  Ramabai's  part.  She  has  not  tried  to  force  Chris- 
tianity on  its  inmates.  If  her  example  has  been  too  catching  for  the  girls,  and  too 
striking  a  contrast  to  that  afforded  by  their  parents  and  guardians,  what  is  more 


:, 


I 


1! 


246 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


^J'':  •ifil 


three  at  the  end  of  1896,  and  to  forty-eight  in  1897.1  This  was  without 
any  compulsory  attendance  upon  Christian  teaching,  and  was  entirely 
the  outcome  of  their  voluntary  search  for  truth,  and  intelligent  insight 
into  what  Christianity  really  means. 

Pundita  Ramabai's  reply  to  those  who  were  so  offended  at  the 
conversion  of  some  of  her  prot^g^es  is  at  once  vigorous  and  oppor- 
tune. She  says:  "They  are  mourning  for  these  girls,  for  they 
think  '.ley  are  lost  to  society,  and  that  the  nation  has  been  made 
weak  by  this  loss  of  strength.  These  good  people  never  think  of  the 
thousands  of  young  widows  who  are  yearly  led  astray,  and  whose  lives 
are  wantonly  destroyed  by  men  like  themselves.  They  never  think  of 
mourning  for  them,  and  for  the  hundreds  of  innocent  lives  that  are 
sacrificed  upon  the  unholy  altar  of  caste.  .  .  •  Men  who  live  in  open 
sin,  daily  violating  the  rules  of  morality,  and  who  are  plagues  of 
society,  are  received  and  honored  everywhere  in  their  caste;  while  a 
n'aii  following  his  conscience,  either  by  marrying  a  widow  or  by 
embracing  Christianity,  is  made  an  outcast,  and  persecuted."  2  She 
continues  with  a  stinging  expos6  of  the  inconsistencies  of  Hindu  reli- 
gion and  practice. 

Her  Home  has  steadily  grown  in  usefulness,  and  the  number  of 
inmates  has  increased  from  year  to  year.!*     ghe  began  in  March,  1889, 

natural  than  that  the  girls  should  become  Christians?  The  conclusion  to  which  we 
are  driven  is  that  the  present  outcry  is  a  revival  of  the  old  policy  of  the  Brahmans, 
to  do  nothing  themselves,  and  abuse  all  who  attempt  to  do  something  for  the  little 
widows  of  India.'"— Quoted  in  the  Woman's  Missionary  Friend,  March,  1896, 
p.  246. 

1  "  Report  of  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Ramabai  Association,  held  March  16, 

1898,"  pp.  17,  18. 

«  Quoted  from  The  Indian  Christian  Herald  in  The  Missionary  Review  of  the 
World,  December,  1896,  p.  932.  Cf.  also  The  Sentinel,  February,  1896,  p.  17, 
and  "  Report  of  the  Ramabai  Association  for  1895." 

•  The  Orthodox  Brahmans  of  Poona  and  vicinity  have  undertaken  to  establish 
a  rival  "  Home  for  Widows,"  under  strictly  Hindu  control.  The  project  was 
intrusted  to  the  care  of  Professor  Karve,  a  gentleman  who  is,  no  doubt,  fully 
competent ;  yet,  according  to  the  Indian  Spectator,  its  success  is  still  far  from  as- 
sured. The  Spectator  thus  sums  up  the  result:  "  He  [Professor  Karve]  has  been 
quietly  working  for  it  for  the  last  two  years,  travelling  from  place  to  place,  giving 
lectures,  distributing  pamphlets,  and  appealing  for  private  help.  For  all  his  pains, 
he  has  been  able  to  collect  less  than  five  thousand  rupees,  and  this  from  scarcely 
n.ore  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  gentlemen.  What  is  the  secret  of  his  failure?  The 
Dnyanodava  has  the  following  pertinent  reply : '  In  all  deference  to  Professor  Karve's 
sincerity  and  patient  endeavors,  we  dare  to  say  that  the  difference  is  that  between 
an  imitation  and  the  genuine  thing.  Men  have  fought  and  spent  enormous  sums 
for  the  Kohinoor,  but  we  do  not  hear  of  life  and  wealth  sacrificed  for  a  paste  dia- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


24/ 


with  only  two  inmates ;  in  1892  there  were  forty-three,  including  thirty 
widows;  in  1896  there  were  fifty-seven,  which  number  in  1897  had 
increased  to  seventy-five.i     When  the  fearful  fam- 
ine of  1807  arose,  Ramabai  extended  her  efforts  to  *  ■tirring  and  romantic 

^ '  J      •  1        r  /-  itory  of  Ood  ■  provi- 

reach  the  famine-stricken  widows  and  girls  of  Cen-  dentui  uadingi. 
tral  India.  During  a  tour  in  the  Central  Provinces, 
she  found  many  young  widows  and  deserted  wives  not  only  starving,  but 
in  great  moral  danger,  owing  to  their  distress  and  helplessness.  From 
these  waifs  of  famine  and  ostracism,  she  gathered,  during  repeated  visits, 
nearly  five  hundred,  including  many  young  girls  who  were  neither 
widows  nor  deserted  wives.  Some  two  hundred  of  these  were  dis- 
tributed among  different  missions,  while  about  three  hundred  high-caste 
girls  were  placed  at  Kedgaum  (also  written  Khedgaon),  a  few  of  them 
going  to  her  Widows'  Home  in  Poona.  She  is  erecting  buildings  at 
Kedgaum  (a  place  thirty-four  miles  from  Poona,  where  she  had 
previously  purchased  some  land),  which  will  accommodate  nearly 
three  hundred  girls,  in  place  of  the  temporary  bungalow  which  had 
been  hired.      A  large  wing  has  been  added  to  the  school  building 

mond.  The  Pundita  is  genuine.  Her  whole  heart  and  soul,  all  that  she  has,  has 
gone  to  the  saving  and  bettering  of  widows.  A  widow  herself,  she  believes  there 
is  something  from  which  widows  can  be  saved,  and  some  one  to  whom  they  can  be 
led  to  their  temporal  and  spiritual  bettering.  She  believes  and  she  acts.  Professor 
Karve  sees  and  admires,  and  says  :  "  Let  us  do  likewise,  leaving  out  the  Christianity 
of  it."  But  Professor  Karve  is  not  a  widow!  He  does  not  see  in  the  light  of  the 
Divine  Love  how  forlorn,  loveless,  and  sad  is  the  state  of  the  Hindu  widow,  nor 
does  he  know  by  experience  what  the  Divine  Saviour  can  do  to  elevate,  purify, 
and  ennoble  the  human  soul  in  whatever  state  it  may  be  found.' " — Quoted  in  The 
Christian  Patriot,  August  14,  1897. 

1  "  The  Sharada  Sadan,  to-day,  is  worth  $50,000,  without  one  rupee  of  debt 
upon  it.  Through  it  have  passed  three  hundred  and  fifty  child  widows  and  girls, 
the  average  number  in  the  home  being  fifty.  The  past  year  [1897]  closed  with 
seventy-five.  Fourteen  pupils  have  been  trained  as  teachers,  nine  of  whom  are 
teaching  in  different  schools,  and  two  liave  opened  schools  of  their  own.  Of  eight 
trained  as  nurses,  five  are  employed.  Of  seven  trained  as  assistants  to  missionaries, 
five  are  employed.  Seven  are  matrons,  two  are  housekeepers ;  while  ten  have 
happy  homes  of  their  own,  and  were  not  married  before  they  were  twenty-one.  Of 
the  three  hundred  and  fifty  who  have  been  in  the  Sadan  for  a  longer  or  shortc  time, 
forty-eight  have  become  Christians,  twenty-three  of  whom  are  voluntary  Christiiin 
workers ;  all  of  these  retaining  the  Hindu  customs  and  costumes.  The  greater  part 
of  this  large  work  has  been  accomplished  in  less  than  nine  years,  for  in  the  storm 
of  1893  thirty-one  pupils  were  removed  from  the  Sadan,  through  the  influence  of 
the  Poona  Advisory  Board  after  its  resignation,  so  that  fifty  of  the  present  number 
have  been  under  instruction  less  than  five  years.  In  two  years  thirty  of  the  attend- 
ing pupils  will  be  ready  to  go  out  as  wage-cirners. "— "  Report  of  the  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  Kainabai  Association,  held  March  16,  1898." 


iUl 


*%■  \^ 


248 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


in  Poona.  A  report  dated  October,  1897,  states  that  "about 
ninety  of  these  new  girls  have  accepted  the  Lord  Jesus  as  their 
Saviour."  An  account  of  events  still  more  recent,  published  in  Tlte 
Indian  Witness  of  November  26,  1897,  announces  the  baptism  by  the 
Rev.  W.  W.  Bruere  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen  women  and  child 
widows  at  Poona,  and  on  November  1 5th  one  hundred  and  eight  women 
and  girls  at  Kedgaum.i  The  semiannual  report  (July,  1898)  of  the 
"  Mukti  Home,"  as  it  has  been  named,  at  Kedgaum,  announces  the 
baptism  of  thirty  more  of  its  inmates,  and  gives  the  total  on  its  roll 
at  that  date  as  two  hundred  and  thirty.  The  girls  thus  gathered  are 
portrayed  as  at  first  "  nothing  but  skeletons,  and  wild  like  the  beasts  of 
the  jungle."  2  The  physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  blessings  which 
will  come  to  them  through  this  rescue  at  the  hands  of  Pundita  Ram- 
abai,  who  can  estimate? 

Could  there  be  a  more  stirring  and  romantic  story  of  God's  provi- 
dential leadings  than  appears  in  the  history  of  this  brave  widow?  Is 
there  a  more  significant  illustration  of  what  He  has  in  prospect  for 
those  Indian  Christians  who  are  prepared  to  serve  Him  among  their 
fellow-countrymen  ?  Krupabai  Satthianadhan,  who  once  visited  Pun- 
dita Ramabai,  has  given  an  interesting  account  of  her  work.  In  de- 
scribing the  inmates  of  the  Home,  she  says :  "  They  seemed  to  have 
shaken  off  all  prejudices,  and  in  the  new  atmosphere  of  freedom  and 
intelle'-tual  development  to  have  acquired  some  force  of  character  and 
a  detern;ination  to  improve  themselves.  Everything  they  attempt, 
whether  singing  or  reading  or  talking,  they  do  naturally,  without  any 
of  that  false  modesty  and  affectation  which  characterise  Hindu  girls  of 
their  age.  How  much  fuller,  brighter,  and  healthier  the  life  of  our 
girls  would  be  if  they  could  only  throw  off  the  trammels  of  supersti- 

1  Quoted  in  The  Baptist  Missionary  Review  (Madras),  January,  1898,  pp.  a8, 
29,  and  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  April,  1898,  p.  281. 

*  Their  appearance  is  thus  described  by  one  who  was  present  and  witnessed  their 
arrival  at  Kedgaum:  "  They  are  a  sad,  pitiful  sight  when  first  they  come!  How 
shall  I  describe  them?  Some  are  almost  too  weak  to  move,  some  through  want  of 
cleanliness  and  proper  food  are  so  covered  with  sores  that  it  is  painful  to  look  at 
them,  others  through  sheer  poverty  have  been  reduced  to  wearing  the  same  article 
of  clothing  for  such  a  long  time  that  it  is  impossible  to  stand  near  them  without 
feeling  faint  through  the  unhealthy  odour  proceeding  therefrom.  Praise  the  Lord 
for  what  a  few  months  in  the  Home  have  done  for  such!  They  are  not  only  clean, 
and  the  majority  of  them  strong  and  healthy,  but  they  have  been  wonderfully  toned 
down  through  the  Christ-influence  that  has  been  exerted  over  them,  and  now 
instead  of  quarrelling  and  fighting,  they  gladly  do  anything  for  one  another,  or  for 
those  who  are  in  charge  of  them."—  White  Already  to  Harvest,  October,  1897,  p.  8. 


f     I: 


i\ 


n 


m 


m  1 


11 

' 

f  '^mw 

y 

1 

1  -.       (1: 

!  If 

THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


249 


_,,        _,,         u      r    T'      1       J     Ffom  the  funeral  pyre 

The  Church  of   England     ofheatheniimtothe 


tion  and  prejudice,  and  breathe  the  healthy  atmosphere  of  innocent 
enjoyment  and  culture!  Pundita  Ramabai's  work  is  national  in  its 
effects,  for  the  widows  that  she  is  training  will  no  doubt  take  the  lead  in 
the  emancipation  of  the  women  of  India.  They  have  no  demands  on 
their  time,  and  no  ties.  If  they  can  make  life  more  useful,  more  intel- 
lectually, innocently  happy,  the  married  women  will  be  sure  to  follow 
and  make  life  in  their  hoines  worth  living."  i  The  pledges  of  the 
Ramabai  Association  exinrtd  in  1898,  and  further  provision  has  been 
made  for  conducting  her  institution  through  the  efforts  of  an  organized 
committee  which  has  undertaken  to  secure  the  financial  support  re- 
quired. 

Special  work  on  behalf  of  widows  has  been  assumed  by  various 
other  agencies  in  India.      The   London   Missionary  Society  has  an 
Industrial  Home  in  Calcutta  for  the  assistance 
of  Christian  widows. 
Zenana  Missionary  Society  has  an  Industrial  In-     loving  ore  of  Chrii- 
stitute  for  Widows  at  Amritsar,  in  the  Punjab.  *"  ''' 

Her  Majesty  Queen  Victoria  was  pleased  to  accept  in  her  Jubilee  year 
a  curtain  embroidered  by  one  hundred  widows  connected  with  this  in- 
stitute. It  is  to  be  noted  "that  the  Incident  is  of  special  interest, 
because  until  sixty-eight  years  ago  [1829]  these  women  would  have 
been  burned  alive  on  the  funeral  pyre  of  their  husbands."  ^  The 
American  Presbyterian  Mission  at  Jalandhar,  in  the  Punjab,  has  a 
class  for  Hindu  widows,  with  sixteen  pupils.  A  Widows'  Industrial 
Home  has  been  opened  at  Beawar  by  the  United  Presbyterian  Mission 
of  Scotland.  A  Widows'  Fund,  from  which  assistance  is  rendered  to 
those  who  need  aid,  has  been  established  at  Nazareth,  in  Tinnevelly, 
by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gcspel.     Mention  should  be 

1  Satthianadhan,  "  Miscellaneous  Writings,"  p.  g5. 

The  Outlook  for  May  29,  1897,  publishes  a  letter  from  Helen  S.  Dyer,  of  Bom- 
bay,  in  which  the  following  incident  is  given  in  connection  with  the  sudden  expan- 
sion of  the  Pundita  Ramabai's  work  occasioned  by  the  distress  of  the  famine  i'  "  The 
attitude  of  the  older  inmates  of  the  Sharada  Sadan  in  this  emergency  has  been  most 
helpful.  They  agreed  to  eat  cheaper  food,  and  live  in  a  poorer  way,  to  make  it 
easier  to  take  in  these  poor  waifs.  They  have  joined  in  carinj;  for  and  making 
them  feel  at  home.  Among  the  new-comers  were  some  little  girl  widows,  and  one 
or  two  babies  who  were  connected  with  them  and  could  not  be  separated.  The 
older  girls  volunteered  to  adopt  these  as  foster-children,  and  have  devoted  themselves 
lovingly  to  their  care.  One  little  scrawny  mite  was  adopted  by  a  lassie  of  fourteen 
who  had  herself  in  infancy  been  cast  out  to  die.  When  the  other  girls  twitted  her 
on  the  •  monkey  face '  of  her  prot^g^e,  she  calmly  replied :  '  To  adopt  a  nice  and 
pretty  child  is  good,  but  to  take  an  ugly  one  is  love.' " 

»  India's  Womtn,  October,  1897,  p.  318. 


250 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


made  also  of  a  Brahman  Home  at  Baranagore,  near  Calcutta,  con> 
ducted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sasipada  Banerjee.  Mr.  Bancrjee's  work 
has  now  expanded  to  include  not  only  a  Home  for  Widows.,  but  a 
female  boarding-school,  and  a  normal  class  for  the  training  o(  ieachers. 
He  and  his  wife  long  ago  gave  up  their  faith  in  idolatry,  and  became 
disciples  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj ;  but  the  school  is  not  known  as  dis- 
tinctively Christian,  as  it  is  his  theory  that  caste  should  not  be  inter- 
fered with,  and  that  Hindu  widows  should  feel  free  to  come  there  with- 
out apprehension  that  it  might  involve  revolutionary  changes  in  their 
religious  life.  Mr.  Banerjee  has  fought  a  brave  light  with  the  prejudices 
of  Indian  society,  and  his  enlightened  views  of  what  should  be  done  for 
the  education  of  the  women  of  India,  and  the  mitigation  of  the  miseries 
of  Hindu  widowhood,  deserve  all  praise.' 

In  other  lands  it  is  apparent  that  Christianity,  wherever  missions 

have  introduced  it,  is  exerting  a  powerful  influence  in  modifying  the 

cruel  exactions  and  doing  away  with  the  old  legal 

Mitigation  of  the       disabilities  which  affect  the  status  of  widows.     A 

widow  •  lot  in  other 

tandi.  new  law  has  recently  been  passed  in  Korea,  abro- 

gating the  rule  which  limited  the  right  of  widows 
to  marry  only  those  of  inferior  rank,  and  allowing  full  liberty  in  this 
respect  without  regard  to  caste.2  In  Old  Calabar,  as  a  result  of  mis- 
sionary intervention,  the  custom  of  compelling  widows  to  remain  in 
their  houses  in  filth  and  wretchedness  after  the  death  of  their  husbands, 
until  "  devil-making  "  was  over,  which  sometimes  imposed  seclusion  for 
a  period  of  seven  years,  has  been  abolished.  The  requirement  is  now 
that  there  shall  be  but  one  month  of  mourning  on  tlie  part  of  widows, 
and  after  that  no  further  restraint  shall  be  put  upon  them.'  At  another 
place  on  the  West  Coast,  where  the  Mission  of  the  American  Presby- 
terian Church  is  establislied,  a  converted  African  king  has  issued  some 
strange  decrees,  which  may  be  called  the  Magna  Charta  of  widowhood 
among  those  wild  races.*  In  Aneityum,  in  the  New  Hebrides,  the 
evils  of  female  infanticide  and  the  strangulation  of  widows  have  long 

1  "  Some  Noted  Indians  of  Modern  Times,"  p.  98;  Tht  Indian  Magatint  and 
Rr^irw,  June,  1895,  p.  298;  August,  1895,  pp.  428-434. 

*  Woman's  Missionary  Friend,  August,  1897,  p.  52. 

'  Dickie,  "  Story  of  the  Mission  in  Old  Calabar,"  p.  79. 

*  Mrs.  Rentlinger,  of  the  mission,  writes  from  Benito  in  1896:  "Our  Kombe 
King  and  his  cliiefs  have  just  been  in  council,  and  have  decreed  some  new  laws, 
among  which  is  the  following :  Widows  are  to  be  allowed  liberty  to  settle  as  they 
please,  and  to  marry  whom  they  will,  and  in  a  case  where  the  woman  has  been  long 
in  the  husband's  family,  only  half  the  dowry  paid  is  required  to  be  returned,  if  she 
chooses  to  leave  the  family  of  her  deceased  husband  and  make  her  home  ebewhere." 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


SSI 


ceued.  "  During  the  first  seven  years  of  his  residence,  Dr.  Inglis 
counted  sixty  widows  who,  but  for  the  new  religion,  would  have  been 
strangled  according  to  native  law."  Thus  writes  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Lawrie, 
formerly  a  missionary  in  the  New  Hebrides.* 


6.  MmcATtNO  THi  Enforced  Seclusion  of  Woman.— The  iso- 
lation of  woman,  accompanied  by  the  strict  espionage  to  which  she 
14  subjected  in  most  Eastern  lands,  is  the  result  of 
the  brooding  suspicion  which  rests  upon  social  Th«  Meiat  probitms  of 
intercourse.  Men  distrust  other  men,  and  all  men  »•»•  ««n«n«  •y»t«m. 
distrust  more  or  less  all  women.  In  some  religious 
and  social  environments  this  state  of  suspicion  is  more  intense  than  in 
others.  We  find  its  extreme  form  in  Mohammedan  society  and  among 
aristocratic  circles  in  nearly  all  Oriental  countries.  It  has  become 
to  such  an  extent  a  part  of  the  social  economy  of  life  that  it  will  not  be 
safe  to  disturb  it  until  nobler  views  of  the  relation  of  the  sexes,  more 
civilized  conceptions  of  the  status  of  woman,  and  a  larger  increment  of 
chivalry  and  chastity  have  been  introduced  into  the  moral  tone  of  society. 
Wherever  Islam  has  established  itself  severe  restraints  have  been  put 
upon  woman,  and  the  veil  has  been  d  \  opped  over  her  person.  Chris- 
tian or  Hindu  communities  surrounded  by  Moslems,  in  order  to  pro- 
tect their  own  women  from  public  insult  and  annoyance,  have  had  to  con- 
form some  of  their  customs,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  to  those  current 
among  their  Moslem  neighbors.  In  India,  with  all  high-caste  Hindus 
as  well  as  Mohammedans,  an  extreme  measure  of  seclusion  and 
espionage  has  become  characteristic  of  the  zenana  system,  although  it 
is  acknowledged  by  Hindus  themselves  that  a  wonderful  change  has 
taken  place  within  the  last  thirty  years.^  Before  the  advent  of  the 
Moslem  women  had  far  more  liberty  than  s  at  present  granted  them.' 
It  should  be  noted  that  even  now  the  zenana  system  is  not  enforced  in 

1   The  Free  Chunk  of  Scotland  Monthly,  May,  1897,  p.  108. 

•  "  In  Bengal,  Hindu  women  had  for  tenturies  been  kept  in  a  state  of  seclusion  ; 
this  may  have  been  partly  due  to  Moh  ,imedan  influence,  but,  whatever  was  the 
cause,  thirty  years  ago  the  position  of  the  Hindu  women  in  Bengal  was  most  de- 
plorable. The  state  of  things  is  altogether  different  now.  As  regards  the  seclusion 
of  Hindu  women,  the  change  has  been  of  a  marvellous  character."— From  an 
address  by  Mr.  Manomohun  Ghose  before  the  National  Indian  Association,  printed 
in  The  Indian  Magatine  and  Revirui,  February,  1896,  pp.  63,  64. 

»  "The  Origin  of  Hindu  Zenanas,"  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Evans,  Mnssoorie, 
Thi  Mistionary  Htrald  of  tht  Baptist  Missionary  Socitty  (London),  February,  1897, 
p.  94- 


I: 


in 

I, 


1; 


I 


:  I 


263 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


all  parts  of  India,  nor  is  it  customary  with  the  agricultural  population, 
or  to  any  great  extent  with  the  lower  classes  of  Hindu  tociety. 

The  attitude  of  missions  towards  this  seclusion  of  woman  in  the  East 
should  be  one  of  prudence  and  reserve.  These  formal  barriers  of  cus- 
tom and  external  restraint  may  not  safely  be  thrown 
Th«  prop«r  aititud*  of  down  with  undue  haste,  or  at  least  until  efficient 
miMient  to  th«  i.a.n..  moral  safeguards  can  be  substituted  in  their  place.* 
Nothing  is  more  distressing  to  an  Oriental  woman 
of  natural  refinement  than  a  breach  of  custom,  involving  on  her  part 
what  is  counted  to  be  a  moral  shame.  Public  sentiment,  however,  is 
so  focussed  upon  artificial  standards,  and  so  occupied  in  exacting  ex- 
temal  conformity  to  social  habit,  that  the  inner  spirit  of  modesty 
counts  for  little  in  comparison  with  the  outer  form,  nor  is  it  always 
accorded  the  respect  to  which  it  is  entitled,  or  granted  its  rightful 
privileges.  These  changes  will  come  with  "sweeter  manners,  purer 
laws,"  and  nobler  insight  into  social  morals.  The  difficulty  of  dealing  in 
any  arbitrary  way  with  the  terrible  rigor  of  Mohammedan  and  Hindu 
custom  regarding  the  treatment  of  woman  has  been  revealed  in  connec- 
tion with  the  effort  of  the  British  Government  to  enforce  sanitary  require- 
ments during  the  recent  prevalence  of  the  plague.  The  most  pressing 
demands  of  a  hygienic  code  are  of  no  weight  whatever  to  the 
Moslem,  if  they  involve  the  slightest  violation  of  established  traditions 
governing  the  sanctities  of  his  harem.  Hindus  and  Mohammedans, 
therefore,  conceal  the  nresence  of  disease,  and  bar  out  from  their  homes 
all  medical  supervision.  Any  amount  of  suffering,  and  even  death 
itself,  seems  to  be  preferable  to  making  the  least  concession  to  unwel- 
come or  too  intrusive  sanitary  regulations.^ 

1  "  It  would  be  a  calamity  if  the  zenana  doors  were  all  opened  wide  to-morrow, 
because  male  society  is  not  in  a  fit  state  to  allow  of  this  with  safety.  The  influence 
of  our  Lord  in  promoting  genuine  morality  is  spreading  rapidly,  and  the  doors  every- 
where  are  ajar.  In  thousands  of  cases  they  are  at  least  half  open,  as  it  were. 
If  the  stable  and  righteous  government  of  the  English,  and  the  influence  of  Christ 
through  His  missionary  servants,  male  and  female,  continue,  the  evils  of  the  zenana 
system  will  pass  away  in  time."-Rev.  J.  P.  Ashton  (L.  M.  S.),  Bhowanipore, 
Calcutta,  India. 

«  In  The  Spectator  of  April  3,  1897,  is  an  article  on  "  Indian  Doctors  and  the 
Plague,"  in  which  the  following  startling  incident  is  given,  illustrating  in  a  dramatic 
form  the  intensity  of  Mohammedan  and  Hindu  fanaticism  regarding  matters  of  this 
kind:  "A  Mussulman  lady  was  attacked  by  the  plague,  and,  as  she  might  be  a 
centre  of  infection,  was  ordered  by  the  doctors  to  be  removed  to  a  hospital.  Her 
husband  protested  violently,  and  finding  the  doctors  resolute,  first  shot  his  wife 
dead,  and  then  himself.  Observe  that  he  did  not  shoot  the  doctors.  That  would 
have  been  a  mere  act  of  revenge,  having  no  effect  on  the  protection  of  his  home, 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


1 


^s 


In  view  of  this  state  of  feeling  it  is  apparent  how  impossible  it 
would  be  for  men  to  engage  in  any  kind  of  zenana  work.     It  is  a  de- 
partment of  service  appointed  by  Providence  to 
Christian  women,  and  while  it  is  true  that  Moham-    a  pr         .>ai  cait  u 
medan  and  Hindu  women  in  the  zenanas  are  not  Chrutu..  womanheotf. 
usually  so  unhappy  as  one  would  imagine,  and 
are  not  generally  begging  for  deliverance,  yet  the  significance  of  a  change 
in  the  zenana  code,  and  the  benefits  which  may  be  expected  to  accrue 
thereby  to  F'»stem  society,  can  hardly  be  overestimated.     The  whole 
system  i>:      t    </ v  a  stronghold  of  ignorance  and  degradation ;  it  is  also 
an  iro''feiij(r^  jie  icre^'   for  almost  every  possible  kind  of  iniquity  and 

,  a  leading  journal  of  Bombay,  although 
ith  zenana  missions,  has  no  hesitation  in 
'  rom  a  sociological  point  of  view,"  it  re- 
.  m  which  perpetuates  limitations  already 
\  nposed  upon  the  normal  development  of 
-ponding  class  of  sentiments  which  make 
.a  the  raising  of  the  type  in  the  other  half, 
stands  .IS  c  .pje'-ii.         ' 

The  pa.  v  >ich  (  hritian  missions  have  to  play  in  the  effort  to 
mitigate  this  cutorced  seclusion  of  woman  is  to  cultivate  the  spirit  of 
manly  and  womanly  virtue,  to  establish  relations  of  purity,  honor,  and 
mutual  confidence  between  the  sexes,  and  to  introduce  wholesome  sim. 
plicity,  moral  chivalry,  and  refined  freedom  into  the  home  life  of  the 
East.  This  they  have  accomplished  already  in  thousands  of  Christian 
communities,  where  a  large  measure  of  brightness  and  cheer  has  come 
into  the  social  life  of  woman,  without  any  undue  demission  of  those 
formal  restraints  which,  in  view  of  the  moral  tone  of  Oriental  society, 
are  required  for  safety  and  self-respect.  The  very  presence  of  Chris- 
tian women,  native  as  well  as  foreign,  is  a  ministry  to  the  higher  nature 
of  a  hitherto  inhibited  womanhood,  and  suggests  brighter  and  fairer 
possibilities  of  life  outside  the  petty  slavery  of  its  present  lot,  without 
in  any  sense  lessening  the  sacr  halo  of  domestic  virtue.  In  the 
zenanas,  where  life  is  so  shroud    ,  dwarfed,  and  to  a  certain  extent 


cruelt) 

I,'  'i 

•  n  fi 

I  -';•. 

not  in    ,T 

.;.dihv' 

..P'l. 

■  Uth 

CJi  .If-rnni 

1,^'  iht; 

/  -.nivyik. 

;.i.'i/I.;,     i 

I  '■  p'.i 

'■'^    IKU  r.  r 

t.i,   .00  I-. 

TV  ,'  ;c 

ih; 

-  :,.;t, 

•alf  iht 

at    X 

rd  A 

con? 

ratin..  '  >. 

'he    ■ 

vv  !'»■!, 

i.  the 

^ 


whereas  his  object  was  to  prevent  what  he  deemed  dishonour  falling  npon  him  and 
on  his  house.  This  may  be  called  an  extreme  case,  and  the  Mussulman  may  have 
been  a  man  of  violent  temper ;  but  so  far  as  we  know  his  coreligionists,  they  would 
all  agree  that  he  had  done  his  duty,  and  would  wish  under  the  same  circumstances, 
and  supposing  an  armed  revolt  to  be  hopeless,  to  have  grace  enough  to  follow  hit 
example." 

I  Quoted  in  Tht  Christian  Patriot  (Madras),  Febroary  14,  1895. 


|f 


-i    -. 


VM 


i 


;  J    h  Ml  J 

I     '      9  I  '  « 


264 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


paralyzed  both  morally  and  intellectually,  the  sweet,  womanly  visitor 
with  her  message  of  Christian  love  and  hope,  and  the  suggestion  of  a 
better  and  freer  life,  becomes  a  symbol  of  another  world  of  thought  and 
custom,  not  only  teaching  lessons  of  religir  i-s  truth,  but  illustrating  by 
her  own  personality  a  nobler  type  of  womanhood,  exemplifying  liberty 
without  the  loss  of  self-respect,  and  revealing  a  modesty  which  is  in  no 
sense  bounded  by  lattice  bars.  Her  refined  womanliness  and  social 
dignity  are  recognized  as  entirely  independent  of  the  purdah  and  all 
that  it  signifies— a  parable  which  it  is  not  easy,  as  Indian  society  is 
constituted,  for  the  inmates  of  a  zenana  to  comprehend.* 

It  is  difficult  to  name  with  confidence  the  person  to  whom  belongs 

the  credit  of  initiating  zenana  work  as  a  missionary  method,  or  to 

designate  with  certainty  and  precision  the  time 

Who bcKsn Christian    and  place  of  its  inauguration.     In  "The  Indian 

effort  in  the  «nan..?    Missionary    Manual,"   by  Dr.   Murdoch    (fourth 

edition,  p.  471),  we  find  the  following  statement: 

"The  Rev.  T.  Smith,  a  colleague  of  Dr.  Duff,  first  proposed,  in  1840, 

a  scheme  for  the  home  education  of  women  of  the  upper  classes ;  but  at 

the  time  it  met  with  no  practical  response.     A  beginning  was  first  made 

by  the  Rev.  J.  and  Mrs.  Fordyce  in  1855,  through  Miss  Toogood,  with 

the  cordial  cooperation  of  Mr.  Smith.     Soon  afterwards  the  work  was 

taken  up  by  missionary  ladies,  Mrs.  Sale  and  Mrs.  Mullens.2     It  has 

1  "  In  Oriental  lands,  evtn  more  than  in  Western  countries,  fashion  is  omnipo- 
tent, and  the  power  of  social  respectability  is  so  potent  that  almost  any  unveiled 
woman  in  the  East  would  gladly  surrender  her  lil)erty  if  she  could  gain  the  social 
promotion  which  is  implied  in  belonging  to  the  zenana.  True  enough,  the  women 
who  are  subject  to  this  system  are  always  very  glad  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  outdoor 
world,  but  only  one  in  a  hundred  would  accept  the  life  of  unveiled  women  if  they 
had  the  opportunity.  They  would  shrink  with  fear  from  such  a  proposal,  ai  if  it  im- 
plied  a  surrender  of  moral  character. "-Thoburn,  "  The  Christless  Nations,"  p.  86. 

2  The  late  Mrs.  John  Sale  died  at  Helensburgh,  Scotland,  February  8,  1898,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  eighty.  She  went  to  India  with  her  husband  in  1849,  under 
appointment  as  a  missionary  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  (English).  In  The 
Zenana  Missionary  Herald,  the  monthly  publication  of  the  Baptist  Ladies'  Asso- 
ciation, we  f^nd  the  fcllowing  information  concerning  her  entrance  upon  zenana 
visitation:  "  It  was  in  1852,  about  three  years  after  leaving  England,  that  Mrs.  Sale 
began  to  try  to  reach  her  Indian  sisters  m  the  villages  about  Barisal.  In  1854  she 
obtained  access  to  a  native  gentleman's  house  in  Jessore,  and  from  that  time  slowly 
but  surely  gained  access  to  other  houses.  In  1858  she  was  a  welcome  visitor  in 
many  zenanas  in  Calcutta;  but  m  1861  came  the  ummons  to  accompany  her  husband 
to  England.  To  whom  should  her  work  be  given?  Few  sympathised  with  her  in 
it.  It  seemed  so  dangerous  and  questionable  to  many  that  they  strongly  oppnsiil 
the  idea  of  any  good  coming  from  it,  and  urged  .Mr.  Sale  not  to  allow  his  wife  to 
engage  m  it.     But  the  Lord  was  leading  her,  and  provided  some  one  to  take  up 


;f* 


I  i 


i 


I.a.lv  mis-iunarits  in  thi-  ,..urt  ..f  the  Zinana  .Missii.ri  Huuw,  I'csliawar,  India. 

Matit.n  (lass  at  Sa-ycnc  l-"uhkk-n,  (Iiina. 
MUs  I  iHJriiitfton  in  liic  stroinl  rciw.i 

Woman's    Minis,  rv     i„    \\  „\i  vv    in    Inmia    and    China. 
1.1     K.  /,.  M.  s., 


''mi  * 


.^M^i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


25r. 


since  extended  to  all  parts  of  India."  In  "  The  Women  of  India,"  one 
of  the  "  Papers  on  Indian  Social  Reform,"  also  prepared  by  Dr.  Mur- 
doch, and  published  at  Madras,  we  find  the  additional  statement  that 
"until  1 86 1  nothing  was  done  in  the  North- West  Provinces,  but  the 
late  Mrs.  Winter,  who  had  labored  for  four  years  as  a  zenana  visitor  in 
Bengal,  soon  afterwards  commenced  the  work  in  Delhi "  (p.  47).  It  is 
reported  elsewhere  that  the  Society  for  Promoting  Female  Education  in 
the  East  was  organized  in  1 834,  in  response  to  the  appeals  of  Dr.  David 
Abeel,  who  visited  England  at  that  time  to  plead  the  cause  of  female 
education  in  the  East.  This  society  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  instruction  to  women  in  the  zenanas  of  India  and  in  their 
homes  in  China,  and  it  is  stated  that  one  of  its  missionaries  succeeded, 
in  1835,  in  gaining  access  to  a  zenana  in  Calcutta,  thus  becoming  the 
first  zenana  missionary.'  The  Indian  Female  Normal  School  and 
Instruction  Society  was  organized  in  1 852,  largely  through  the  influence 
of  the  late  Dowager  Lady  Kinnaird,  who  may  be  regarded  as  its 
founder,  and  to  the  end  of  her  life  its  patron  and  mainstay.  Out  of 
this  effort  sprang  the  Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary  Society 
and  the  Zenana  Bible  and  Medical  Mission.  As  the  inspiring  purpose 
in  the  founding  of  the  Indian  Female  Normal  School  and  Instruction 
Society  was  work  in  the  zenanas,  to  it  also,  and  to  Lady  Kinnaird,  its 
founder,  belongs  a  share  of  the  honor  of  initiating  the  zenana  campaign. 
In  still  another  connection  it  is  recorded  that  "  to  Mrs.  Sale,  the  wife  of 
the  Rev.  John  Sale,  for  many  years  a  missionary  in  the  Backergunge 
District,  and  then  in  Calcutta,  is  due  the  honor  of  having  turned  the 


the  service  she  roust  lay  down.  Mrs.  Mullens,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
t;Iadly  accepted  the  responsibility,  and  followed  up  the  effort  with  vigour  and  won- 
derful success.  Mrs.  Sale  came  home  and  pleaded  with  great  earnestness  for  ladies 
to  take  up  this  hitherto  neglected  work.  One  and  another  caught  the  glow  of  her 
enthusiasm.  She  was  herself  convinced  that  the  Lord  had  opened  a  great  and 
t-ITectual  door  which  none  but  women  could  enter,  and  where  a  stupendous  work 
was  waiting  for  Christian  women  to  do."— Quoted  in  The  Zenana  Missionary  Herald 
iif  the  Baptist  Ladies'  Association  (London),  March,  1898,  p.  117.  See  ibid.,  April, 
1898,  pp.  134-138. 

>  Ai  tide  on  "  Progress  among  the  Women  of  Bengal  during  the  Reign  of  Queen 
Victoria,"  in  The  Indian  Evangelical  Heviezv,  October,  1897,  p.  189.  Cf.  also 
"A  Handbook  of  Foreign  Missions,"  p.  209  (American  ed.,  p.  179).  Of  the 
Society  for  Promoting  Female  Education  it  is  stated  :  "  Not  long  after  its  com- 
mencement [1834]  four  Hindu  gentlemen  actually  consented  to  allow  a  lady  to  visit 
the  secluded  women  of  their  houses,  and  teach  not  only  needlework  but  reading  from 
Christian  school-books.  This  was  the  inauguration  of  zenana  work.  In  1842  they 
sent  out  the  first  agent  for  direct  zenana  work  on  a  larger  scale :  Miss  Barton  was 
appointed  to  commence  the  work  at  Bombay."—"  Woman  in  Missions,"  pp.  76,  77. 


M'-l 


'*^ "  'II I 


li  * 


h^4  14 


256 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


first  sod  and  entered  the  first  Hindu  zenana  with  the  message  of  salva- 
tion. Very  soon  after  this  Mrs.  C.  B.  Lewis  conceived  the  idea  of 
organizing  a  zenana  mission."  *  This  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the 
Baptist  Zenana  Missionary  Society  in  1867.  In  the  Centenary  Volume 
of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  of  London  we  read  that  "  Mrs.  Sale's 
first  entrance  into  the  zenanas  in  1856  [1854?]  was  a  great  emancipa- 
tion act"  (p.  87).  In  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  lVorld{Ma.y,  1895, 
p.  371)  it  is  declared  that  the  first  zenana  teaching  ever  attempted  in 
the  East  was  by  missionary  women,  in  1 851,  among  the  thirty  wives  and 
royal  sisters  of  the  King  of  Siam.  Still  another  statement  indicates 
that  to  the  womanly  insight  of  a  native  lady  of  the  Christian  commu- 
nity of  Madras  belongs  the  credit  of  first  introducing  in  Southern  India 
the  method  now  known  as  zenana  work.  Mrs.  Anna  Satthianadhan 
as  early  as  1 863  began  her  life  of  Christian  service  in  Madras,  and  soon 
after  commenced  to  visit  the  homes  of  her  Hindu  pupils.^ 

Although  we  may  not  be  able  to  determine  with  absolute  assurance 

what  may  be  properly  regarded  as  the  original  movement  towards 

zenana  work,  yet  this  much  is  certain,  that  it  was 

Zenana  millions  the     under  the  j)ressure  of  Christian  mi.ssionary  zeal 

outcome  of  a  Chriitian     ,  ,        .  ,  ...  ,     . 

missionary  impulse,  that  the  idea  Came  mto  bemg  and  m  various 
directions  was  practically  put  in  operation.  That 
credit  is  due  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Smith  and  the  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
John  Fordyce,  Free  Church  of  Scotland  missionaries  in  Calcutta,  for 
very  early  proposals  in  advocacy  of  such  a  work,  and  among  the  very 
earliest  practical  efforts  to  establish  it  in  Indian  zenanas,  is  sufficiently 
clear.  The  Rev.  E.  Storrow,  who  went  to  Calcutta  as  an  agent  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society  in  1848,  has  just  published  what  may  be 
regarded  as  authoritative  information  bearing  upon  the  subject  in  his 
volume  entitled  "Our  Indian  Sisters."  He  states  that  in  1840  the 
young  missionary  Thomas  Smith  advocated  publicly  the  plan  of  Chris- 

>  Paper  by  Mrs.  Robinson  upon  the  history  of  the  Baptist  Zenana  Mission  in 
Bengal,  printed  in  7'Ae  Zenana  Missionary  Herald ol  the  Baptist  Ladies'  Association, 
September,  1897,  pp.  487-491. 

*  "  In  1863  she  accompanied  her  hasband  to  Madras,  and  soon  found  her  voca- 
tion in  life.  The  honour  of  inaugurating  thit  important  branch  of  Christian  effort 
known  as  zenana  teaching  belongs  to  Mrs.  Satthianadhan.  The  work  grew  out  of 
a  little  school  she  had  for  Hindu  girls  in  her  own  house.  It  was  indeed  very  trying 
at  first ;  but  her  patience,  enthusiasm,  and  deep  longing  to  make  known  to  her 
Hindu  sisters  the  Gospel  message  gave  her  success,  and  after  six  years'  hard  labour 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  and  the  Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary 
Society  took  up  the  work  she  had  commenced,  but  placed  her  in  sole  charge  of 
it."— Satthianadhan,  "  Sketches  of  Indian  Christians,"  p.  41. 


'xmmj^m&iimsm 


m 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS  257 

tian  ladies  forming  classes  for  instruction  in  the  zenanas,  and  that  this 
proposal  was  acted  upon  for  the  first  time  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  John  Fordyce,  in  1855,  Miss  Toogood  being  the  first 
British  teacher.  It  is  acknowledged,  however,  that  four  English  ladies, 
Mrs.  Tracey,  Miss  Bird,  Mrs.  Sale,  and  Mrs.  Mullens,  had  given  instruc- 
tion previous  to  this  date  in  some  of  the  zenanas.  Mr.  Storrow's  con- 
clusion is  stated  as  follows :  "  But  the  honor  of  erecting  zenana  teach- 
ing into  a  system,  and  of  popularizing  it  by  public  advocacy  and  efficient 
practical  organization,  belongs  to  Mr.  Fordyce  and  Dr.  Thomas  Smith."  1 

The  Rev.  C.Silvester  Home,  in  "The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society,"  probably  experienced  the  same  difficulty  as  has  the  author  in 
determining  to  whom  should  be  assigned  the  precedence  in  the  matter 
of  zenana  missions.  He  remarks :  "  Where  many  noble  workers  were 
contemporaneous,  it  would  be  invidious  to  select  anv  single  one  as  the 
absolute  first  to  occupy  the  field,  but  certain.,  Mrs.  Mullens  (L.  M.  S.) 
was  among  the  very  earliest  in  drawing  attention  to  the  opportunity  of 
visiting  Hindu  ladies  in  zenanas."  The  date  which  he  assigns  for  her 
formal  entrance  upon  the  work  was  after  her  return  to  India  (in  i860) 
from  a  visit  to  England.  This  missionary  method  has  now  been 
adopted  by  even  Hindus  and  Mohammedans,  and  education  in  the 
zenanas  has  been  gradually  put  into  practice  by  enlightened  natives. 
The  result  of  all  this  will  appear  more  and  more,  and  its  magnificent 
power  in  the  making  of  a  new  India  cannot  be  overestimated .2 

It  is  recognized  that  education  c  )nducted  in  the  zenanas  is  a  very 
expensive  system,  and  is  serviceable  rather  as  a  temporary  makeshift 
until  the  cause  of  female  instruction  shall  command  more  fully  the  sup- 
port of  public  opinion.  The  British  Government  has  assisted  by  some 
"  grants  in  aid  "  to  missionary  and  other  agencies  engaged  in  this  work 
of  home  training.     Mr.  H.  B.  Grigg,  who  was  for  many  years  Direc- 

1  Storrow.  "Oar  Indian  Sister ,"  (American  ed..  "  Our  Sisters  in  India") 
p.  215.     Cf.  also  rht  Fret  Church  of  Scotland  Monthly,  October,  1898,  p.  244. 

«  "  The  marvellous  opening  up  of  Hindu  and  Mohammedan  homes  to  our  renana 
missionaries  and  their  native  assistants,  the  hundreds  who  are  daily  hanging  upon 
their  lips  for  instruction,  ana  the  close  and  tender  ties  of  friendship  that  are  beinu 
formed,  assuredly  horald  the  coming  of  Christ.  Of  all  the  lines  of  preparation  we 
have  been  consider-ng,  none  more  certainly  speaks  of  divine  foreknowledge  and 
love  than  this.  None  is  more  pregnant  with  hope.  None  more  certainly  foretells 
the  speedy  conquest  of  India  for  Christ."-Article  by  the  Rev.  Francis  Ashcroft 
in  The  Missionary  Record,  July.  .894,  p.  ,9,.  Interesting  articles  on  the  prog- 
ress of  zenana  missions  may  be  found  in  The  Gospel  in  all  Lands,  September  1895 
pp.  436-438.  »nd  in  The  Baptist  Missionary  Rn,ew  lM»dras),  April,  1896,  pp   132! 


fc  :,d 


^M^^^^^^^^^^^^^^s^J^^ii 


i" 


■iiiiii] 
1  ii  i 


258 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


tor  of  Public  Instruction  in  the  Madras  Presidency,  states  in  one  of  his 
reports :  "  This  method  of  extending  education  among  women  is  no 
doubt  at  present  proportionately  very  expensive.  .  .  .  The  system 
is,  to  my  mind,  in  itself  admirably  suited  to  the  conditions  and  circum- 
stances of  the  country,  and  calculated  to  be  of  immense  help  to  the 
progress  of  Indian  women."  *  Education  pure  and  simple  is,  however, 
but  a  small  part  of  the  benefit  which  has  come  to  Indian  women 
through  zenana  visitation.  The  touch  of  sympathy  has  quickened  the 
higher  life.  New  subjects  of  thought  and  fresh  themes  of  conversation 
have  been  introduced.  Nobler  ideals  have  been  stimulated,  and,  above 
all,  a  knowledge  of  Christ  and  His  power  to  bless  the  soul  has  been  im- 
parted to  multitudes  of  Indian  women.  A  promising  movement  has 
been  started  even  among  Hindus,  having  in  view  the  home  education 
of  women,  and  so  far  as  missionary  work  in  the  zenanas  is  concerned, 
we  have  gathered  as  yet  but  the  first-fruits.  The  influence  of  this 
movement  is  yet  to  be  felt  among  the  140,000,000  women  of  British 
India  and  the  Native  States,  and  future  homes  of  India  are  to  be  brighter 
and  purer  through  this  ministry  of  Christian  womanhood  behind  other- 
wise sealed  and  guarded  doors. 

in  Mohammedan  lands  still  under  the  sway  of  strict  Islamic  tradi- 
tions only  the  woman  missionary  can  gain  access  to  the  harem.      It 
will  be  a  long  and  somewhat  discouraging  pro- 
The  relaxation  of  the    cess  to  produce  any  change  of  sentiment  in  Moslem 

zenana  system  must  ... 

come  graduaUy.  society  and  brmg  about  a  relaxation  of  its  rigor- 
ous customs.  Here  and  there  we  read  of  quiet 
work  in  Mohammedan  communities  on  the  part  of  missionary  women 
seeking  to  teach  the  truth  to  ignorant  minds,  but  the  day  of  wide  op- 
portunity is  not  yet.  In  Egypt  the  United  Presbyterian  and  Church 
of  England  Missions  are  availing  themselves  of  the  special  privileges 
which  the  present  political  status  affords. 

In  China  and  Korea  seclusion  is  customary,  but  it  is  not  so  univer- 
sal, or  carried  to  such  a  fanatical  extreme,  as  is  the  case  in  Hindu 
zenanas  or  Moslem  harems.  There  is,  however,  the  same  imprac- 
ticability of  access,  except  through  women  visitors,  native  and  foreign. 
The  Bible-women  in  China  render  valuable  ser\Mce.  Such  schools  for 
their  training  as  the  one  formerly  conducted  by  Miss  Adele  Fielde  at 
Swatow,  and  many  othTS,  have  a  distinct  sphere  of  usefulness,  the  im- 
portance of  which  can  hardly  be  overstated.  Among  the  higher  classes 
of  China  the  seclusion  to  which  women  are  subjected  is  sometimes  little 
better  than  imprisonment.  A  missionary  worker  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
1  Satthianadhar.,  "  History  of  Education  in  the  Madras  Presidency,"  p.  326. 


THE  SOCIAL  REfULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


269 


land  Zenana  Missionary  Society,  late  at  Foochow,  reports  a  visit  to  the 
home  of  a  mandarin  where  the  ladies  had  not  been  outside  the  door  for 
six  months.*  Miss  F.  M.  Williams,  in  her  recent  volume,  writes  of  visit- 
ing houses  where  there  are  "  girls  over  twelve  years  of  age  who  may  not 
go  out  of  their  homes  until  they  are  married."  '  Missions  are  doing  much 
to  mitigate  the  severity  of  these  restrictions  among  the  middle  classes, 
and  to  some  extent  in  higher  circles.  Not  the  least  valuable  service 
they  render  is  in  preparing  the  way  for  a  gradual  change  of  custom, 
without  at  the  same  time  imperilling  the  moral  safeguards  of  social 
intercourse. 


i  " 


7.  Improving  thb  Condition  of  Domestic  Life  and  Family 
Training.— That  Christian  missions  are  moulding  the  home  life  of 
heathen  lands  after  the  pattern  of  a  finer  ideal  and 
a  nobler  culture  is  beyond  dispute.      Wherever   The  diff«r«nti»tion  or 

_,    .     ,        ,  I  !•  t      1  II  I    the  Christian  from  the 

Christian  homes  are  established  parental  duty  and  heathen  home, 
responsibility  become  sacred  in  a  new  and  hallowed 
sense ;  purer  desires  are  kindled  for  the  moral  welfare  of  children ; 
Ip.rger  hopes  are  cherished  in  the  family  horoscope ;  special  watchful- 
ness characterizes  domestic  training ;  parental  pride  and  effort  centre 
about  a  sweeter  and  finer  type  of  character,  and  a  higher  mission  in  life 
is  sought  for  the  children  of  the  household.  The  domestic  intercourse 
of  all  members  of  the  family  circle  has  a  kinder  and  lovelier  tone ;  there 
is  a  refined  reticence  about  matters  which  were  once  paraded  with 
shameless  vulgarity ;  there  are  new  standards  of  modesty ;  much  that 
was  unseemly  and  coarse  has  vanished  as  if  it  knew  that  it  was  no 
longer  welcome.  Christianity  in  its  own  marvelous  way  everywhere 
differentiates  the  Christian  from  the  heathen  home.  In  a  statement  of 
the  nature,  work,  and  aims  of  Protestant  missions  in  China,  laid  before 
the  Tsung-li  Yamen  in  1895  by  American  missionaries,  to  be  presented 
to  the  Emperor  as  a  summary  of  missionary  principles,^  a  very  clear 
and  explicit  paragraph  deals  with  filial  piety  in  the  Christian  sense. 
Emphasis  is  given  to  the  Fifth  Commandment,  and  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  the  Apostles  on  the  duty  of  children  to  parents  and  of 
parents  to  children  are  commented  upon  with  discernment  and  preci- 
sion. The  statement  is  tj-pical  of  the  attitude  of  missions  to  home  life 
throughout  the  worid,  and  there  is  no  lack  of  evidence  that  Christian- 

>  India's  H'omtn,  June,  1894,  p.  257. 

«  Williams,  "  A  New  Thing,"  p.  55. 

»  Th*  Chintst  RtcurJer,  February,  1896,  pp.  67,  68. 


I  I 


J  f 


MO 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


ued  homes  in  mission  fields  are  the  wonder  and  delight  even  of  other- 
wise unresponsive  heathen.* 

Beautiful  and  impressive  signs  of  the  coming  of  Christ  into 
heathen  environments  are  often  observable,  but  there  is  none  more 
striking  than  this  new  creation  of  the  Christian  family.  Some  of  these 
sanctified  homes  which  missions  have  established  amid  surroundings  of 
moral  and  physical  degradation  are  among  the  very  brightest  and  most 
unique  trophies  of  the  light  and  heahng  of  the  Gospel  to  be  found  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is  a  long  step  towards  social  regeneration 
when  the  family  becomes  a  religious  institution— sacred  in  its  privileges 
and  opportunities— and  is  made  instrumental  in  the  upbuilding  of 
Christ's  kingdom  among  men.  Heathenism  has  always  claimed  the 
right  to  exercise  its  unlovely  absolutism  in  the  hallowed  realm  of 
family  experience.2  Christianity  has  ever  placed  strict  limits  to  the 
power  of  authority  in  the  family,  and  has  declared  with  the  emphasis 
of  a  mighty  imperative  that  the  law  of  love  rules  and  that  a  high 
standard  of  parental  as  well  as  filial  obligation  must  prevail.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  has  not  failed  to  teach  the  sacred  duty  of  wise  and  lov- 
ing government,  a  much-needed  lesson,  within  as  well  as  without  the 
bounds  of  Christendom. 

Christian  missions  have  introduced,  in  the  first  instance,  the  con- 
crete example  of  home  life  as  exhibited  in  the  missionary  family. 
"  The  first  thing  the  Protestant  missionary  does  among  the  heathen," 

'  "  Christianity  has  given  this  city  some  beautiful  homes.  First  of  all,  it  has 
created  a  charming  domestic  lifo,  affection  between  husband  and  wife,  the  Christian 
training  of  children,  a  family  circle  mutually  loving  and  trusting  each  other.  Neat- 
ness and  order  are  maintained  in  the  house,  while  the  clothing  and  the  person  are 
kept  clean.  .Such  homes  are  an  object-lesson  in  this  great  city,  and  are  not  without 
considerable  influence.  The  heathen  do  not  have  such  homes."— Rev.  Chauncey 
Goodrich.  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Tungcho,  China. 

"  The  difference  between  Christians  and  non-Christians  in  conjugal  and  family 
faithfulnessiswellknownalloverthecountry."— Rev.  J.  B.  Porter  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.), 
Kyoto,  Japan. 

"  In  many  a  village  the  Protestant  houses  might  be  pointed  out  by  a  stranger, 
because  of  the  flower  in  the  window,  the  tidily  kept  children,  or  the  decent  approach  ; 
and  not  unfrequently  the  first  outward  and  visible  sign  of  a  man  or  woman's  in- 
terest in  evangelical  truth  is  the  cleanlier  person,  the  more  careful  attire,  or  the 
improved  style  of  living  in  the  home."— Rev.  Robert  Thomson  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.), 
Constantinople,  Turkey. 

»  Storrs,  "The  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity,"  Lecture  V.;  Schmidt,  "The 
Social  Results  of  Early  Christianity,"  pp.  188-208;  Weir,  "  Christianity  in  Civil- 
zation,"  pp.  47-6a;   Tht  BiblUtU  World,  December,  1896,  p.  479. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RBSVLTS  OF  MISSIONS 


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wrote  the  Ute  Dr.  E.  A.  Lawrence,  "U  to  esublish  a  home.  He 
approaches  them  not  aa  a  priest,  not  simply  as  a  man,  but  as  the 
head  of  a  family,  presenting  Christianity  quite  as 
much  in  its  social  as  in  its  individual  character 
istics.  This  Christian  home  is  to  be  the  transform' 
ing  centre  of  a  new  community.  Into  the- midst 
of  pagan  masses,  where  society  is  coagulated  rather  than  organised, 
where  homes  are  degraded  by  parental  tyranny,  marital  multiplicity, 
and  female  bondage,  he  brings  the  leaven  of  a  redeemed  family,  which 
is  to  be  the  nucleus  of  a  redeemed  society.  .  .  .  This  new  institution, 
with  its  monogamy,  its  equality  of  man  and  woman,  its  sympathy  be- 
tween child  and  parent,  its  cooperative  spirit  of  industry,  its  intelli. 
gence,  its  recreation,  its  worship,  is  at  once  a  new  revelation  and  a 
striking  object-lesson  of  the  meaning  and  possibility  of  family  life."  ^ 
In  the  second  place,  missions  have  established  in  the  minds  of  natives 
a  new  conception  of  home,  as  illustrated  in  the  more  refined  life  and 
habits  of  native  Christian  families.* 

>  Lawrence,  "  Modern  Mission*  in  the  East,"  pp.  196,  197.; 

"  The  missionary  and  his  family  have  a  wonderful  influence  for  the  elevation  of 
domestic  life  among  the  natives.  They  see  how  he  respect.'*  his  wife  and  treats  his 
children.  They  are  also  taught  that  woman  is  not  inferior  to  man  as  an  intellectual 
and  responsible  being,  and  learn  to  exercise  patience  and  protect  her  as  the  weaker 
vessel.  This  change  is  seen  first  in  Christian  families  who  are  more  intimately 
associated  with  the  missionaries  and  come  nnder  the  influence  of  Bible  teaching. 
But  it  ii  fast  extending  to  those  heathen  families  who  are  more  directly  in  contact 
with  missionaries  and  native  Christians.  I  know  many  Hindu  families  in  which  the 
wives  are  treated  very  differently  since  the  men  have  become  acquainted  with  the 
missionaries.  A  feather  will  show  whence  the  wind  blows."— Rev.  Robert  Evans 
(VV.  C.  M.  M.  S.),  Mawphlang,  Shillong,  Assam. 

*  "  We  have  now  in  our  Christian  communities  many  comfortable  homes,  where 
children  are  cared  for  and  educated,  all  of  whom  would  have  suffered  beyond  descrip- 
tion if  their  fathers  had  not  been  rescued  from  the  opium  habit."— Rev.  Frederick 
Galpin  (U.  M.  F.  M.  S.),  Ningpo,  China. 

"Native  Christians  are  strongly  impressed  with  the  desirability  of  marrying 
only  '  in  the  Lord.'  ,The  happy  homes  of  Christians  affect  the  heathen  very 
favorably.  Last  week  a  man  came  to  a  friend  of  mine,  bringing  his  idol,  the  '  God 
of  Riches,'  which  he  presented  to  him,  saying:  '  We  never  have  any  peace  in  our 
house.  I  am  told  if  I  give  up  idols  and  believe  on  Jesns  my  home  will  become 
a  little  heaven  on  earth.  Here  is  my  idol."  The  cleanliness,  sanitary  improve- 
ments, and  decent  arrangements  for  sleeping  (instead  of  the  usual  indecencies) 
impress  the  heathen  favorably."— Rev.  Joseph  S.  Adams  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Han- 
kow, China. 

Cf.  article  in  The  Churth  Missionary  Intelligencer,  November,  1893,  on  "  Mis- 
lions  or  Science,  the  Maker  of  India's  Homes?  "  by  the  Rev.  G.  Ensor. 


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262 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


It  requires  only  a  glance  at  the  old-time  features  of  domestic  life 
in  different  lands  to  realize  how  great  this  change  is.    The  Rev.  Dr. 
Charles  C.  Tracy,  in  a  suggestive  volume  on  the 
Theoid  MraiMthenew  influence  of  missions  in  Asia  Minor,  has  a  chapter 
dom..ticity  in  Turkey,  entitled  "The  Gospel  in  the  Family,"  in  which  a 
brief  description  is  given  of  family  life  as  it  existed 
before  the  advent  of  the  missionary  in  the  Turkish  Empire.     "  We  have 
been  told,"  he  writes,  "with  the  utmost  frankness  by  men  of  the  older 
type  that  they  began  to  beat  their  wives  as  soon  as  they  were  married, 
supposing  it  necessary  to  do  so  in  order  to  bring  them  into  proper  sub- 
jection ;  that  they  did  it  at  the  outset  from  principle,  as  something 
which  must  be  done,  or  unhappy  results  would  follow."  i     Another  mis- 
sionary in  Asia  Minor,  in  a  letter  to  the  author,  dwells  at  some  length 
upon  the  blighting  results  of  the  eariier  family  life  in  that  mission  field. 
He  regards  the  true  home  as  unknown  until  the  advent  of  Christian 
missions.     In  its  place  was  the  one  room,  often  filthy  and  unwholesome, 
in  which  the  whole  family  herded,  the  absolute  and  irresponsible  sover- 
eignty of  the  head  of  the  family,  with  its  unreasonable  caprice  and  self- 
assertion,  marriage  at  an  unseemly  age  of  immaturity,  and  artificial 
standards  of  family  intercourse  almost  incredible  in  their  stupidity  and 
unnaturalness.     "  For  a  mother,"  he  writes,  "  to  show  any  special  fond- 
ness for  her  babe  in  the  presence  of  others  would  be  sure  to  expose  the 
child  to  the  terrors  of  the  evil  eye ;  for  a  husband  and  wife  on  meet- 
mg  after  a  long  absence  to  show  any  sign  of  recognition  or  to  exchange 
even  a  word  while  in  the  presence  of  others  would  be  the  height  of  im- 
modesty ;  for  them  to  correspond  while  absent  from  one  another  even 
for  a  year  would  be  improper,  or  at  least  would  be  smiled  at  as  a  sort 
of  sentimentality ;  if  any  letters  are  exchanged  upon  important  business 
they  should  be  written  by  a  child  or  a  neighbor.     While  these  and 
similar  notions  still  hold  sway  over  the  great  majority,  yet  there  is  a 
very  considerable  class  of  people  who  have  been  suflSciently  influenced 
by  enlightened  and  evangelical  views  to  perceive  their  folly  and  in 
many  cases  completely  to  emancipate  themselves  from  such  thraldom."  2 

»  Tracy,  "  Talks  on  the  Veranda  in  a  Far-Away  Land,"  p.  131. 

2  Similar  statements  from  those  entirely  familiar  with  home  life  in  Asiatic  Turkey 
may  be  quoted : 

"  There  was  no  real  family  life-no  home  Hfe-in  any  part  of  Asia  Minor  before 
the  Gospel  came.  That  has  brought  with  it  the  home,  -the  true  Christian  home,  - 
and  the  enlightenment  which  has  come  from  Christian  schools  and  the  customs  whicli 
Christianity  always  carries  with  it. "-Rev.  J.  L.  Barton,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.), 
formerly  missionary  in  Asiatic  Turkey. 

"  Great  progress  has  been  made  in  improving  the  genera!  condition  of  women 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


263 


Internal  sweetening  of  domestic  life  has  been  attended  also  by  ex- 
ternal reconstruction  of  the  houses  of  the  people.  "  Formerly  these 
homes,"  writes  the  Rev.  C.  F^ank  Gates,  D.D.,  of  Harpoot,  Turkey, 
"were  of  a  very  low  type.  In  the  village  of  Midyat  fifteen  years 
ago  there  was  scarcely  a  house  of  more  than  one  story,  and  they  were 
all  without  windows  and  chimneys.  The  hole  in  the  roof  by  which 
the  smoke  was  supposed  to  find  exit  was  never  directly  over  the  fire, 
lest  some  enemy  should  come  upon  the  roof  and  throw  down  gunpow- 
der ;  the  door  never  opened  directly  into  the  room  in  which  the  family 
lived,  but  was  guarded  by  grain-bins  and  the  like,  lest  some  foe  should 
shoot  them  down  before  their  own  fire.  The  whole  region  was  in  a 
state  of  constant  warfare,  one  family  or  tribe  against  another.  One  of 
the  first  effects  of  missions  in  that  region  was  to  oppose  and  check  this 
spirit  of  barbarism  and  strife.  The  village  of  Midyat  has  been  largely 
renovated.  There  are  now  many  houses  of  stone,  two  stories  high, 
furnished  with  stoves,  chairs,  clocks,  and  other  furniture,  and  having 
windows  of  glass.  As  the  houses  have  improved,  family  life  has  been 
elevated  to  a  higher  plane." 

Some  of  the  strange  amenities  of  heathen  family  life  in  India  are 
indicated  by  the  following  quotation  from  a  native  journal  forwarded 
to  the  author  by  the  Rev.  R.  McCheyne  Paterson,  B.D.,  Gujrat, 
Punjab :  "  At  home  the  boy  is  a  great  pet  of  his  parents,  who  allow 
him  unlimited  indulgence,  irrespective  of  good  or  evil,  and  to  expect 
any  moral  training  here  is  simply  an  incongruity.  If  the  father  happens 
to  abuse  the  boy,  the  latter  is  at  liberty  to  retaliate  in  the  vilest  language 
imaginable ;  and  this,  instead  of  being  discouraged,  is  regarded  as  a 
source  of  pleasure  by  his  parents.  The  mother  delights  to  hear  her  boy 
use  abusive  language,  because  it  sounds  sweet  and  charming ;  while  the 
father  thanks  his  particular  god  for  his  mercy  in  having  brought  the 
little  hero  safe  to  the  age  when  he  is  able  to  talk  obscenely.  The 
grandmother  cracks  her  fingers  as  a  token  of  Oriental  affection, 
and  the  boy  is  happy.    A  child  from  the  age  of  two  is  taught  to  abuse 

among  all  classes  of  the  people;  they  have  become  better  educat<;d,  and  with  this 
have  been  better  treated  by  their  husbands  and  male  friends,  being  released  to  a  very 
marked  extent  from  abuse  in  the  matter  of  heavy  outdoor  work  and  corporal  pun- 
ishment. I  remember  a  wealthy  Armenian  in  Kessab  who  once  told  me  that  he  was 
very  anxious  to  join  the  Protestant  community,  but  he  felt  that  his  wife  needed  phys- 
ical punishment  pretty  frequently,  and  he  said  he  knew  that  the  sentiment  in  the 
Protestant  Church  was  so  strong  against  any  such  treatment  that  he  would  be  turned 
out  of  the  Church  very  promptly  at  the  first  offense."— Harris  Graham,  M.D.,  of 
Beirut,  Syria.  Dr.  Graham  was  formerly  a  missionary  in  the  Central  Turkey  Mis- 
sion of  the  A.  B,  C.  F,  M. 


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264 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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every  member  of  the  family,  for  it  brings  good  luck  into  the  house,  and 
by  the  time  he  aspires  to  the  age  of  ten  he  has  at  his  command  the 
whole  standard  volume  of  family  vituperation." 

In  Japan  the  typical  domestic  life  of  the  older  regime,  while  it  is 
far  removed  from  barbarism,  has  nevertheless  some  deplorable  signs  of 
degradation.     Chief  among  them  may  be  named 
«ulVhom.':rn"m.V;  !^*=  P"«"^^'  absolutism,  which  is  abused  in  so  many 
miMion  fleidt.        instances  by  the  forcing  of  daughters  or  sisters  to 
enter  upon  a  life  of  shame.     While  filial  fidelity 
is  much  emphasized  and  sometimes  beautifully  illustrated,  the  equally 
binding  obligations  of  parents  are  grievously  misunderstood  and  mis- 
used.i     In  China  the  family  government  of  heathen  homes  is  aln-  >st 
totally  lacking  in  wise  and  conscientious  discipline  and  training  of 
the  young.     "  It  is  contrary  to  their  theories  to  restrain  or  govern  little 
children,  and  they  are  permitted  to  follow  their  own  sweet  will  unless 
they  chance  to  do  something  which  rouses  the  anger  of  the  parents,  in 
which  case  they  revile  them,  strike  them  on  the  head,  or  beat  them 
unmercifully.     The  penalty  is  never  proportioned  to  the  real  gravity  of 
the  offense,  but  a  mistake,  an  accident,  a  sin  of  ignorance,  is  quite 
likely  to  be  visited  with  severe  chastisement,  while  lying,  reviling,  and 
bursts  of  angry  passion  will  often  only  call  forth  a  smile  which  will  en- 
courage their  repetition.     To  the  Chinese  mind  the  punishment  of  a 
child,  except  as  one  is  impelled  to  it  by  anger,  seems  an  impossibility."  2 
A  missionary  in  Africa  writes,  in  a  letter  to  the  Journal  des  Missions 
Evange'ligues,  concerning  the  family  life  of  the  Pahouins,  "whose  chil- 
dren are  old  and  corrupt  before  they  are  grown  up,  whose  hopeless, 
joyless  lives  are  gloomier  and  darker  than  the  huts  of  bark  in  which 
they  live,  but  at  the  breath  of  Christian  love  these  little  ones,  whom 
Jesus  cares  for,  grow  young  again,  become  playful,  and  begin  to  laugh 
with  the  good,  clear,  healthy  laughter  of  our  children."  3 

1   The  Japan  Evangelist,  February,  1896,  p.  135. 

»  Miss  J.  E.  Chapin  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Peking,  in  Woman's  mri  in  the  Far 
East,  May,  1895,  p.  9. 

3  The  Chronicle,  October,  1895,  p.  271, 

Statements  from  other  mission  fields  are  of  a  similar  tenor:  "Nothing  that  I 
see  in  the  social  life  about  us  here  is  more  painful  to  me  than  the  way  in  which 
children  are  brought  up.  They  drink  in  falsehood  and  all  forms  of  deception  with 
their  mother's  milk.  Cruel  and  undeserved  punishment  is  attended  with  a  fondling 
love  so  tender  that  it  cannot  bear  to  hear  the  child  cry,  until  all  perception  of  the 
deserts  of  nght  and  wrong  conduct  is  obliterated  from  the  child's  mind,  and  the 
daily  life  IS  a  contest  between  children  and  parents,  as  to  which  shall  outwit  the 
other.     Obedience  is  an  unknown  virtue,  and  the  worst  eleuents  in  the  child's  na- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  266 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  as  the  result  of  Christian  missions  great  and 
blessed  changes  are  apparent  in  thousands  of  homes.     In  every  com- 
munity where  they  have  been  planted  we  can 
enter  native  Christian  families  where  the  sweet  A  new  type  of  domestic 
cadence  of  domestic  intercourse  is  full  of  gentle-      '"' '  Emp J"''"*' 
ness  and  mellow  kindliness.     Dr.  Tracy,  in  his 
volume  before  mentioned,  has  given  a  pleasing  sketch  of  one  of  these 
new  homes  which  has  sprung  into  being  under  mission  influence  in 
Asia  Minor.     "  Knocking  at  the  gate,"  he  writes,  "  we  are  admitted 
into  a  neat  court  by  a  bright  little  boy,  and  are  met  at  the  door  of  the 
house  by  a  smiling  young  woman.     We  are  ushered  into  a  pretty  little 
parior  and  seated.     This  young  woman  is  a  wife  at  the  head  of  the 
house,  and  the  chosen  companion  of  her  husband  by  her  own  free  con- 
sent.    She  comes  and  gives  us  a  hearty  greeting,  with  a  warm  grasp  of 
the  hand.     There  is  no  veil  on  her  face,  no  abject  position  or  expres- 
sion.    Her  tongue  is  free,  her  face  is  shining,  her  heart  is  glad.     Here 
are  two  or  three  bright  children  already  longing  for  school.     The 
mother  is  a  lady.     She  speaks  intelligently  upon  various  subjects. 
She  is  training  her  little  ones  in  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  and  teaching 
them  to  think  and  understand.     She  tells  them  stories  from  the  Bible, 
interests  them  in  the  best  things,  watches  the  words  of  their  mouths,' 
keeps  them  away  from  the  bad  company  always  met  with  in  the  street. 
She  teaches  them  truthfulness ;  she  never  frightens  them  with  hobgoblin 
stories  to  secure  obedience,  as  the  custom  is ;  she  is  careful  to  tell  them 
no  lies  of  any  kind.     She  asks  to  be  excused  a  moment  or  two,  that  she 
may  call  her  husband  from  the  garden ;  he  will  be  so  glad  to  see  us. 
While  she  is  absent,  notice  the  contents  of  the  room.     See  a  neat 

ture  have  almost  unrestrained  freedom.  "-Rev.  P.  H.  Moore  (A.  B.  M   U  )  Now 
gong,  Assam.  " 

"  In  Chile  there  is  wanting  the  Christian  home.     Parents  love  their  children  • 
children  love  each  other,  but  they  do  as  they  please,  and  early  form  habits  of 
dnnkmg,  gambling,  and  in:-iorality."-Rev.  J.  M.  AUis  (P.  B.  F.  M   N  )   San 
tiago,  Chile.  " 

,-,  ','.  ^''"! '"  "°  '*""'^  "^*  '"  '•'"*  '"='"''*"  communities.  The  children  in  early 
life  live  with  their  mothers,  and.  like  them,  belong  to  no  caste.  When  the  males  grow 
o  der  they  mix  with  the  men.  and  children  of  both  sexes  hear  the  filthy  conversation 
of  the  grown-np  people,  nothing  being  too  immoral  to  be  concealed  from  them. 
No  love  is  lost  between  parents  and  children,  and  the  latter  disobey  their  parents 
when  young  and  neglect  them  when  grown  up.  Brought  up  amid  immorality  in 
.heir  purely  heathen  state,  they  become  prepared  for  immoral  acts.  Before  they 
came  under  Christian  influence,  when  the  youth  of  both  sexes  met,  the  first  and 
perhaps  only  subject  of  conversation  was  immorality.  This  was  almost,  if  not  alto, 
gether,  umvcrsal.--Rev.  William  Gunn.  M.D.  (F.  C.  S.),  Futuna.  New  Hebrides. 


11 


I    '• 


266 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


11  1* 


center-table  with  a  pretty  cover  of  crochet-work,  made  by  her  own 
hand.  On  it  a  nice  lamp  is  placed,  a  Bible,  and  a  weekly  news- 
paper. On  the  wall  is  a  little  bookcase.  We  get  a  most  hearty  greet- 
ing from  the  husband ;  the  little  child  three  years  old  goes  all  around 
and  kisses  our  hands.  The  lady  prepares  delicious  coffee,  which  she 
serves,  smiling  and  chatting  gayly.  Husband  and  wife  are  happy  in 
their  own  home,  managing  their  house  and  their  children  with  no  inter- 
ference. Love  and  good-will  and  wisdom  blossom  out  here.  What 
has  made  the  difference?  The  Gospel,  and  nothing  else.  This  lady 
was  educated  in  the  seminary  for  girls.  There  she  learned  to  love  the 
Lord ;  there  she  acquired  both  discipline  and  useful  knowledge.  She 
was  taught  what  life  is  for,  and  how  to  use  it.  She  was  trained  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  best  things.  She  and  her  husband  have  been 
instructed  in  sound  principles.     Here  you  observe  the  result." 

Another  missionary  from  the  far  interior  of  Turkey  writes :  "  It  is 
a  very  conspicuous  fact  that  where  the  Gospel  has  gained  an  entrance 
into  a  house  or  village,  '  home '  means  much  more  than  it  did.  There 
is  a  more  intelligent  outlook  upon  the  world  at  large.  The  whole  ap- 
pearance of  the  house  and  family  shows  more  cleanliness  and  neatness. 
During  a  recent  visitation  of  the  cholera  some  five  hundred  died  in  this 
city,  but  among  them  there  was  not  a  single  Protestant,  an  exemption 
which  was  noted  also  in  Mardin.  T.iis  was  very  plainly  due  to  the 
greater  cleanliness  in  their  homes  and  in  their  mode  of  living."  *  The 
following  attractive  picture  is  from  the  letter  of  another  correspondent 
in  the  Turkish  Empire :  "  If  there  is  one  sweet  spot  on  earth  on  which 
the  angels  love  to  gaze,  it  is  a  truly  Christian  home.  Here  and  there 
among  the  multitudes  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  land,  such  a  spot  is  now 
found.  Gentle  manners  and  tender  love,  morning  and  evening  family 
worship,  kindly  counsel,  warning  and  instruction,  tidiness  and  thrift, 
intelligence  and  education,  and  over  all  and  through  all  the  spirit  of 
humble,  joyful  Christian  sincerity.  Next  to  the  actual  salvation  of  in- 
dividual souls,  these  are  the  results  that  most  rejoice  the  heart  of  the 
true  missionary,  and  testify  to  the  value  of  his  work."  * 

Bishop  Caldwell,  of  India,  once  remarked,  after  a  tour  in  Tinne- 
velly :  "  In  passing  from  village  to  village  you  can  tell  without  asking 
a  question  which  village  is  Christian  and  which  is  heathen."    Of  the 

1  Rev.  John  A.  Ainslir  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.),  Mosul,  Turkey. 

•i  Rev.  Edward  Riggs  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Marsovan,  Turkey.  Cf.  also  the  kc- 
count  of  exercises  at  the  dedication  of  the  Memorial  Column  in  Beirut,  in  commemo- 
1  atioa  of  the  opening  of  the  first  school  for  girls  in  Syria.  Th*  Church  at  Homt  and 
Abroad,  October,  1894,  pp.  301,  303. 


■■ 


B      = 


5    oa  s 


a,     z 


41 


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i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


267 


late  Rev.  David  Mohun,  one  of  the  native  pastors  in  the  employ 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  an  associate  writes  that  among 
his  prominent  characteristics  was  "  the  fatherly  way 
in  which  he  brought  up  his  children  and  gave  them    ''•'•  '"••'ing  ofbttttr 

,..,,,  ,  hornet  in  India,  Japan, 

the  best  education  possible  for  a  poor  pastor,  thus  and  China, 

exemplifying  a  true  type  of  Christian  family  life." 
At  the  Centenary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  in  1895,  the  Rev. 
E.  Lewis,  of  Bellary,  gave  a  very  forcible  description  of  the  influence  of 
t'  e  Gospel  in  one  of  the  native  families  in  India,  telling  of  the  con- 
fession of  a  mother  who  contrasted  the  home  of  her  Christian  son 
with  that  of  another  who  was  a  fakir,  and  whom  she  had  formerly 
adored,  while  almost  hating  her  converted  son.  She  remarked  :  "  My 
Christian  son's  home  is  heaven,  and  I  would  never  wish  to  see  a  better 
heaven ;  my  fakir  son's  home  is  a  dunghill,  yea,  hell  itself."  * 

A  missionary  remarks :  "  Christianity  has  given  to  Japan  an  ideal 
for  domestic  life  such  as  never  had  been  known  in  this  land  before— a 
Christian  home."  "  Many  who  take  no  other  interest  in  Christianity," 
states  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Alexander,  D.D.,  of  Tokyo,  "are  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  higher  and  happier  tone  of  family  life  among  our  con- 
verts, so  much  so  that  the  words  '  Christian  home '  have  come  to  be 
understood  and  used  by  many  who  do  not  know  English,  as  expressing 
the  ideal  household."  "There  is  not  a  child  in  Japan,"  declares  the 
Rev,  D.  C.  Greene,  D.D.,  "  who  does  not  live  a  markedly  different  life 
from  that  of  the  children  of  thirty  years  ago.  The  whole  atmosphere 
which  he  breathes  is  permeated  by  the  new  thought  of  the  value  of  the 
individual" »  The  Rev.  J.  G.  Fagg,  of  Amoy,  China,  writes  that 
"infanticide  is  not  practised  by  Christians;  the  husband  treats  his 
wife  kindly,  and  brothers  their  sisters,  while  the  conduct  of  one  to- 
wards another  in  a  Chinese  Christian  home  is  something  that  amazes 
the  heathen." 

In  the  dismal  social  wastes  of  Africa,  amid  the  abominations  of 
native  degradation,  a  Christian  home  was  unknown  until  Christianity  en- 
tered the  native  huts  and  kraals.  Now  we  may 
read  even  of  royal  homes  where  love  reigns.  It  is  Tranaformed  huta  and 
said  of  Khama  that  "  he  has  abolished  bogadi,  or 
the  purchase  of  wives  by  cattle,  and  introduced 
the  law  of  marriage  by  free  choice,  at  an  age  when  young  men  and 
young  women  are  capable  of  forming  such  an  attachment  intelli- 
gently."    In  his  capital  "  there  are  scores  of  native  homes  where  the 

1  TTu  Chronicle,  June,  1895,  p.  166. 

»  Pettee,  "  A  Chapter  of  Mission  History  in  Modern  Japan,"  p.  188. 


kraala  among  aavage 
races. 


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368 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


children  are  brought  up  to  honor  Christ."  •  In  Tembuland  there  are 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  in  which  the  fule  is  that 
"when  a  girl  belonging  to  the  Association  is  married  she  carries  a 
Bible  in  her  hand  into  the  church."  -  Let  us  hope  that  this  is  typical 
of  the  influence  of  Scriptural  principles  in  after  life.  "  The  change  of 
moral  atmosphere  in  the  Christian  as  compared  with  the  heathen  home 
will  be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  children  of  the  next  generation."  ' 
The  Rev.  Charles  D.  Helm,  of  Matabeleland,  writes,  in  the  same 
strain,  that  "  Christian  home  life  is  a  vast  improvement."  Mr.  Andrew 
Smith,  formerly  a  Free  Church  of  Scotland  missionary  in  Cape  Colony, 
in  a  series  of  papers  on  native  social  questions,  has  devoted  one  to  the 
advocacy  of  the  upright  and  sufficiently  ventilated  house  for  native 
homes,  in  place  of  the  ordinary  hut.  "  The  Kaffir  community,"  he 
writes,  "  should  be  impressed  with  the  idea  that  their  elevation  as  a 
race  is  impossible  until  they  build  proper  houses,  and  that  there  is  a 
deep  and  impassable  gulf  between  themselves  and  Europeans  as  long  as 
they  live  in  huts."* 

In  the  South  Pacific  Islands  it  is  the  plan  of  the  Malua  Training 
Institution,  at  Upolu,  Samoa,  to  receive  married  students  and  teach 
them  how  to  make  homes  after  the  Christian  pattern.  The  Rev.  J.  E. 
Newell  reports  the  results  as  revealed  in  the  lives  of  its  graduates: 
"  Those  who  have  settled  as  missionaries  in  the  Samoan  out-stations  or 
in  New  Guinea  have  in  all  cases  exemplified  these  ideals  in  their  own 

1  Hepburn,  "Twenty  Years  in  Khama's  Country,"  pp.  laa,  284. 

*  The  Christian  Express,  March,  1897,  p.  41. 

3  Rev.  Robert  Laws,  M.D.,  D.D.  (F.  C.  S.),  Kondowi,  Livingstonia,  British 
Central  Africa. 

«  "  Short  Papers  Chiefly  on  South  African  Subjects,"  p.  39. 

A  South  African  missionary  also  writes:  "  We  not  infrequently  see  even  the 
heathen  native  building  a  '  square,  upright  house '  instead  of  the  '  oval  beehive  hut.' 
These  square  houses  are  not  generally  of  brick,  it  is  true,  but  of  hard  wood,  upright 
poles,  or  posts,  set  two  feet  into  the  ground,  running  up  from  eight  to  nine  feet 
above-ground,  then  filled  in  with  a  kind  of  '  basketwork,'  and  plastered  with 
'  ant-heap  and  sand,  mixed.'  This  is  durable  and  forms  a  good  smooth  surface,  and 
when  the  house,  with  its  windows  and  doors  and  two  or  three  rooms,  is  whitewashed, 
it  makes,  with  its  ant-heap  floor,  hard-polished  by  rubbing  down,  a  very  comfortable 
dwelling,  better  than  the  peasantry  of  Ireland  and  Europe  often  have.  This  is  the 
general  style  ^f  house  in  this  station,  but  here  and  there  we  see  brick  houses,  well 
furnished ;  all  have  tables  and  chairs,  and  usually  bedsteads  of  some  sort.  Fifty 
years  ago  the  family  lay  on  the  floor,  with  the  fireplace  in  the  middle  of  the  hut, 
and  the  feet  of  the  sleepers  pointing  to  this  fireplace,  while,  often  occupying  •  part 
of  the  circle,  tied  up  next  the  wall,  were  a  number  of  cattle."— The  late  Rev.  H.  M. 
Bridgman  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Natal,  South  Africa. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


.'69 


homes,  and  have  thus  introduced  a  beneficial  change  in  the  islands 
where  they  have  gone."  The  contrast  between  the  Christian  and  hea- 
then homes,  as,  for  example,  in  Arorae,  one  of  the  Gilbert  Islands,  is 
as  great  as  that  between  light  and  darkness.  In  the  West  Indies,  espe- 
cially Jamaica,  the  testimony  of  missionaries  as  to  the  improvement  in 
home  life  and  the  training  of  children  is  similar.  The  Rev.  Egerton 
R.  Young,  writing  of  "  Life  among  the  Red  Men  of  America,"  tells  of 
an  incident  which  illustrates  how  Christianity  makes  tender  the  hearts  of 
Indian  sons.'  At  Lesser  Slave  Lake,  Athabasca,  Canada,  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  has  a  "Children's  Home"  conducted  by  the 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  G.  Holmes.  "A  Beaver  Indian  woman  walked  a 
hundred  miles  with  a  baby  in  hei  arms,  in  order  to  commit  her  two 
children  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holmes,  having  heard  that  they  '  loved  chil- 
dren and  taught  'hem  to  live  good  Uves,'  and  though  she  'knew  her 
heart  would  be  sore  when  she  left  them,'  she  '  determined  to  come  at 
any  cost.'  Mr.  Holmes  says  of  the  importance  of  this  and  similar  in- 
stitutions :  '  The  more  I  see  into  the  home  life  of  the  IndianS;  the  more 
I  am  convinced  that  our  homes  are  the  only  means  of  saving  the  chil- 
dren.  The  whole  atmosphere  of  the  camp  is  polluted  with  immorality, 
and,  humanly  speaking,  it  is  impossible  for  any  child  to  grow  up  pure 
in  heart  or  mind  under  such  influences.'  "  2 

The  Oriental  conception  of  family  life,  although  sadly  marred  in 
practice,  has  still  much  of  the  simplicity  and  clinging  affection  of  the 
patriarchal  system.     If  the  havoc  and  ruin  which 
the  gross  sins  of  heathenism  have  wrought  can  be    ^'"  posiibiiitit*  of  > 
repaired,  and  the  power  of  Christian  love,  with  re-    """^.t'oZ,!"*  " 
fined  instincts  and  customs,  be  introduced,  the 
home  life  of  the  East  will  become  most  beautiful.  No  people  in  the  worid 
can  make  better  and  happier  homes  than  the  representatives  of  these 

1  "But  look,  the  chapel  doors  are  thrown  open.  Ah!  there's  a  sight  that 
brings  a  lump  to  my  throat  and  tears  to  my  eyes.  Two  great  Indians,  men  twenty, 
eight  or  thirty  years  of  age,  with  their  hands  have  made  a  chair,  and  over  their 
hands  and  shoulders  there  was  a  blanket  thrown,  and  seated  on  that  chair,  with  her 
arms  around  their  stalwart  necks,  the  poor  old  invalid  mother  is  being  carried  to 
the  house  of  God  by  her  own  sons.  Another  brother  goes  ahead  down  the  aisle. 
We  have  no  backs  to  our  plain  seats,  so  he  folds  up  a  blanket  very  nicely  and  puts  it 
down  as  a  soft  cushion,  and  mother  is  seated  upon  it,  and  one  of  the  big  fellows  sits 
down  beside  her  and  puts  his  strong  arm  around  her,  and  she  lays  her  head  against 
his  manly  breast.  Ah!  there  comes  a  dimness  in  my  eyes  as  I  see  that,  and  I  thank 
God  for  the  transformation.  The  mother  burned  to  death  is  paganism ;  the  mother 
carried  by  her  sons  to  the  house  of  God  is  Christianity." 

»  "Annual  Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1896,"  p.  397. 


1 , 


270 


(•//X/.sr/.LV  A//SS/OXS  AKD  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


old  civilizations  of  the  Orient,  provided  Christianity  has  its  rightful  Influ- 
ence. If  the  results  achieved  seem  as  yet  meagre  and  fragmentary,  it 
should  be  remembered  that  Christianity  in  its  attempt  to  reconstruct  the 
family  in  non-Christian  lands  is  dealing  with  a  thoroughly  disorganized 
institution,  in  most  instances  a  pulverized  moral  ruin  which  cannot  be 
put  into  form  again  except  by  patient  preparation  and  infinite  effort. 
Then,  again,  let  us  remind  ourselves  that  only  of  late,  even  in  Christen- 
dom, under  the  stimulus  of  sociological  study,  has  there  been  any 
proper  appreciation,  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  of  the  fundamental 
value  and  immense  capabilities  of  the  family  as  a  social  factor  and 
dynamic  force.  Yet  how  clearly  an  intelligent  Christian  woman  of 
India  discovers  the  value  of  propei  family  nurtiu-e  may  be  seen  in  the 
writings  of  Krupabai  Satthianadhan,  who  published  a  little  essay  on 
the  "  Home  Training  of  Children,"  so  full  of  practical  wisdom  and 
Christian  tenderness  ihat  it  would  be  profitable  reading  even  in  the 
best  of  homes.'  Much  of  a  similar  tone  can  be  found  in  the  writings 
of  Japanese  and  Chinese  converts.  The  Orient  under  the  culture  of 
Christianity  will  some  day  be  a  paradise  of  homes. 


8.  Rendering  Aid  and   Protection  to  Children.— Closely 

allied  with  the  moral  training  of  children  is  the  problem  of  their  aid 

and  protection.     In  a  brutish  environment  they 

Th«  periii  of  childhood  are  surrounded  by  many  perils  arising  from  the  igno- 

in  the  realmi  of  ,  ,,  .ft  t 

barbariim.  rancc  and  cruelty  of  parents  or  the  heartlessness  of 

others  who  may  have  authority  over  them,  and  they 
are  liable  to  be  without  adecjuate  relief  in  the  sufferings  incidental  to 
sickness,  accident,  neglect,  and  the  distress  which  comes  with  public 
calamities  like  famine  and  plague.  In  some  countr?s  they  are  exposed 
to  the  awful  suTerings  occasioned  by  the  slave-trade.  If  regulative 
legislation  conctming  employment,  and  even  societies  ^  established  for 

1  "  Miscellaneous  Writings,"  pp.  9-15. 

'^  It  should  be  noted  that  the  system  of  protective  legislation  which  has  been 
called  the  "  Children's  Charter  "  is  a  comparatively  recent  aspect  of  civilization.  It 
has  bee:-  said  that  "  every  statute  upon  the  Statute- Book  for  the  protection  of  the 
helpless  subjects  of  the  Crown  has  been  passed  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria." 
The  same  writer  remarks :  "  When  the  Queen  ascended  the  throne,  the  great  Jug- 
gernaut Car  of  unscrupulous  commercialism,  private  greed,  and  domestic  inhumanity 
rolled  upon  its  way,  with  none  to  hinder."  The  Victorian  era  has  placed  the  State 
in  an  entirely  new  attitude  towards  children.  Mr.  W.  Clarke  Hall  has  summarized 
this  remedial  legislation  under  three  heads:  "(i)  The  Employer  and  the  Child, 
which  treats  of  the  various  acts  for  ameliorating  the  lot  of  children  engaged  in  (ac- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


271 


mtnt  of  chlldran  still 

p«rp«trat«d  in  lom* 

part*  of  Alia  and 

Africa. 

The  dread  advent 


the  aid,  protection,  and  oversight  of  children,  are  needed  in  civihzed 
lands,!  how  much  more  are  remedial  measures  necessary  in  the  irrespon- 
sible realms  of  barbarism!  The  whole  subject  of  childhood,  its  mys- 
teries, its  possibilities,  its  perils,  its  opportunities,  and  the  duties  it 
imposes,  seems  to  have  stimulated  a  distinct  pliase  of  scier'  -  investi- 
gation and  philanthropic  effort.  A  "  Congress  of  Child-b.ady  "  has 
taken  its  place  among  the  numerous  conventions  of  our  times. 

The  scandals  of  ancient  heathenism  as  revealed  in  its  attitude  to- 
wards child  life  are  well  known.  The  unlimited  authority  of  parents, 
the  exposure,  abandonment,  and  sale  of  children,    '*'''•  «''">••  o'  anei«nt 

,  .  ,  ...  .      ■  ,  htathtnltm  in  its  trtat- 

the  atrocious  cruelties  and  mutilations  incident 
to  the  slave-trade,  need  not  be  dwelt  upon.  The 
same  heartless  crimes  prevail  to  a  notorious  extent 
throughout  heathendom  even  at  the  present  day. 
of  famine  almost  everywhere  in  Asia  and  Africa  dooms  thousands  of 
children  to  neglect  and  suffering,  while  in  some  instances  it  leads  to 
their  sale  to  shameless  panderers  to  lust.  Slave  raids  and  slavery  itself 
inevitably  bring  heartrending  sorrows  and  sufferings  to  the  young.  At 
the  convention  of  the  Indian  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  held  at  Poona  in  1896,  it  was  declared  tliat  India  was  greatly  in 
need  of  a  "  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children,"  and  it 
was  eventually  decided  to  make  this  a  department  of  the  work  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  in  India.-  In  Calcutta  an  independent  organization 
for  this  purpose  was  formed  in  1898,  under  the  title  of  "The  Socrety 
for  the  Protection  of  Children  in  India  "  (S.  P.  C.  I.).  Mr.  Justice 
Pratt  was  elected  President,  and  the  formation  of  branch  societies  and 
committees  was  encouraged.*     Hindu  mothers,  in  their  ignorance  and 

toriet,  mines,  brick-fields,  agricultural  gangs,  on  canals,  and  as  chimney-sweepers, 
etc.  i  (a)  the  State  and  the  Child,  which  embraces  the  humanised  corrective  sys- 
tems of  reformatories,  industrial  schools,  and  courts  of  summary  jurisdiction  \  and 
(3)  *he  Parent  and  the  Child,  which  shows  the  efforts  which  have  been  made  to 
lessen  parental  misrule  and  neglect."  Cf.  Hall,  "The  Queen's  Reign  for  Chil- 
dren." 

1  "  The  New  Yo.k  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  has  during 
twenty-two  years  received  and  investigated  103,501  complaints,  involving  more  than 
307,503  children;  obtained  36,981  convictions,  and  rescued  56,160  children  from 
vice,  from  suffering,  and  from  destitution.  Its  reception-rooms  during  the  past 
fifteen  years  of  their  establishment  have  sheltered,  clothed,  and  fed  24,93a  children, 
and  furnished  233,370  substantial  meals.  Day  and  night,  in  summer  and  in  winter, 
its  doors  are  never  closed.  No  child  has  ever  been  turned  away  without  temporary 
shelter.  Two  hundred  and  fifteen  similar  societies  with  a  like  object  have  been 
organized  throughout  the  United  States,  and  eighty-one  others  in  foreign  lands." 

»  Tht  Sentinel,  February,  1897,  p.  23.  S  itnd.,  October,  1898,  p.  134. 


I- 


J72 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


thoughtlessness,  are  in  the  habit  of  terrifying  childish  hearts  l.y  alarm 
ing  falsehoods  concerning  demons,  hobgoblins,  and  malignant  mon- 
sters. Upon  this  subject  an  Indian  woman  writes :  "  How  many 
devils  are  summoned  up,  what  forms  are  given  thtm,  and  what  grisly 
monsters  are  made  to  lie  in  the  dark  all  night,  ready  to  swallow  or 
harm  the  poor  innocent  little  one!  All  this  a  Hindu  child  alone  knows 
and  can  tell.  Fear,  a  kind  of  dread  of  the  unknown  and  unseen,  takes 
possession  of  the  child."  '  The  tales  of  cruelty  to  childhood  in  heathen 
lands  are  harrowing,  and  sometimes  almost  incredible.  It  is  a  cause 
for  gratitude  that  natural  affection  and  instinctive  love  of  children  are, 
as  a  rule,  so  prevalent  among  many  Oriental  races,  and  exercise  such 
a  mighty  restraint  in  the  case  of  thousands  of  dependent  infants. 

\Vhat  Christianity  has  done  in  general  for  children  is  one  of  the 
brightest  chapters  in  its  social  history.  "  If  no  other  change,"  writes 
^^  ,   .    .    .      .  ,         Dr.  Storrs,  "had  followed  the  coming  of  the  reli- 

Chriitiantty'i  miniitry       ■,-,,., 

to  childhood  one  of  the  g'O"  t>t  Jesus,  this  change  in  the  attitude  of  civilized 
brightert  chapters  in    society,  with  its  multiplied  instruments,  its  vaster 

iti  history.  .  .  , 

enterprises,  its  prouder  hopes,  and  its  bolder  am- 
bitions, towards  the  weakness  of  childhood,  is  surely  one  to  impress  and 
delight  us.  It  seems  to  me  to  repeat  the  example  of  the  Master  Him- 
self, and  to  bring  the  Christendom  which  now  honors,  blesses,  and 
consecrates  tha'  childhood  nearer  to  Him  than  all  cathedrals  ever 
builded ! "  2  The  asylums,  homes,  reformatories,  industrial  schools,  and 
hospitals  for  children,  which  are  now  a  feature  of  Christian  civilization, 
are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  example  of  Christ  in  His  tender  ministry 
to  the  little  ones,  and  in  His  "  coronation  of  childhood,"  has  not  been 
lost  upon  His  followers. 

Christian  missions  have  not  been  able  to  do  much  as  yet  in  the  direc- 
tion of  organized  effort,  but  a  steady,  and  in  many  instances  successful, 
moral  influence  has  been  exerted.  Instruction,  precept,  example,  and 
the  introduction  of  more  intelligent  and  sensible  methods  have  done 
much  to  lessen  the  evils  which  afflict  the  young.  The  Christian  impulse 
in  the  parental  heart  is  distinctively  humane  in  its  tendencies.  Natural 
affection  and  the  ties  of  kinship  are,  of  course,  everywhere  influential  in 
safeguarding  the  interests  of  children;  but  ignorance,  superstition, 
barbaric  customs,  and  the  brutal  lapses  to  which  human  nature  is  so 
strangely  addicted,  are  all  in  array  against  the  weak  and  helpless  child- 
hood of  the  world.  Christianity  not  only  softens  the  heart  and  stirs  the 
sympathies,  thus  giving  a  new  sacredness  to  infant  life,  and  creating 

'  Krupabai  Satthianadhan,  "  Miscellaneous  Writings,"  p.  13. 
*  Slurrs,  "The  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity,"  p.   146.     Cf.  also  ibid..  Note 
XIV,  p.  464,  for  quotations  from  the  early  Christian  fathers. 


1} 


I    i-;1 


n 


i.]i 


Mil 


1  'i     i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


273 


f 


'A 


a  social  conscience  regarding  its  treatment,  but  it  addresses  itself  with 
a  vigorous  imperative  to  the  quickening  of  philanthropic  and  reverent 
views  of  duty  to  childrer,  as  an  important  part  of  human  society. 

Fresh  illustrations  of  this  kindly  ministry  to  childhood  present  them- 
selves in  the  noble  work  of  the  American  missionaries  in  Asia  Minor 
who  have  received  and  still  care  for  many  deso- 
late orphans  who  lost  parents  and  guardians  in    The  reicue  of  orph.ni 
the  recent  dreadful  massacres.     Many  a  helpless       ■"<*  famine  w«if«. 
child  has  also  been  rescued  in  the  famine  districts 
of  India  and  saved  from  lingering  suffering  and  death  by  the  hand  of 
missionary  philanthropy.     "  We  have  two  orphans  in  our  home,"  writes 
the  Rev.  C.  E.  Petrick,  of  Sibsagor,  Assam,  "  who  are  Eurasians,  their 
father  being  an  Englishman.   They  are  fine  little  girls,  and  when  they  were 
offered  to  us  it  was  said  that  if  we  did  not  take  them  they  would  be  sold 
for  an  evil  purpose  in  Calcutta.     They  have  been  delivered  from  a  life  of 
shame,  to  which,  no  doubt,  many  orphan  girls  in  Assam  are  consigned." 
In  Japan  work  for  children  has  already  assumed  some  importance. 
Miss  Alice  Haworth,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  observes :   "  It  is 
one  of  the  surest  signs  of  hopeful  Christian  progress  when  Japanese 
men  of  character,  as  well  as  women,  begin  to  recognize  the  value  of 
personal  attention  to  neglected  children."  i     The  Rev.  K.  Tomeoka  is 
at  present  seeking  to  establish  a  Christian  Reform  School  to  be  located 
probably  at  Tokyo.     The  object  in  view  is  to  save  Japanese  children 
who  are  in  danger  of  becoming  criminals.    In  Kobe  there  is  a  Children's 
Home,  similar  to  what  is  known  here  as  a  day-nursery,  where  the 
children  of  the  poor  are  cared  for  while  their  parents  are  engaged  in 
earning  their  livelihood.     The  splendid  work  of  Mr.  Ishii  in  his  Oka- 
yama  Orphanage  is  one  of  the  direct  fruits  of  missions.     Full  particu- 
lars concerning  it  will  be  found  in  the  section  on  orphanages.    Mention 
should  be  made  al.so  of  Judge  Miyoshi's  projected  institution  for 
cnmmal  children,  which  no  doubt  will  be  evangelical  in  its  spirit  and 
aims.     The  kindergarten  has  become  popular  among  the  Japanese 
who  are  specially  fond  of  children.     A  sad  and  dark  feature  of  home 
life  m  Japan,  the  sale  of  daughters  for  an  evil  purpose,  has  been 
much  restricted,  and  is  fast  becoming  repugnant  to  the  moral  senti- 
ments of  the  people.     This  change  may  be  traced  to  the  influence 
of  Christianity.2 

I  Wcman^slVorkfor  Woman,  September,  1896,  p.  240.  Cf.  also  an  article  by 
Miss  A.  Buzzell  on  the  subject  of  work  for  children  in  Japan,  in  Th,  Japan  Evan, 
geltst,  December,  1896,  p.  73. 

»  "  What  has  thus  changed  the  moral  sentiments  of  the  people?    The  answer  is 
Christianity.     With  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  comes  naturally  and  of  necessity  the 


i    - 


i 


i     . 


274 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGKESS 


AVe  find  here  and  there,  in  letters  and  reports  from  Africa,  statements 

concerning  what  are  called  "  Nursery  Missions,"  chiefly  in  the  stations 

hitherto   conducted    by   Bishop   Taylor,  of   the 

"Nursery  Mi..ion."    Mdhodist   Episcopal   Church.     Of   this   unique 

and  homea  for  (lave  ,,,t,-i 

children.  method  the  Bishop  writes:       The  children  are 

redeemed  from  heathenism,  and  are  being  trained 
for  missionary  work.  The  Divine  Founder  of  missions  adopted  but  a 
dozen  disciples  for  special  missionary  purposes.  We  prize  the  careful 
nursery  training  of  about  a  dozen  little  children  for  each  station  much 
more  highly  than  we  do  public-school  teaching,  however  needful  in  its 
own  line  of  service."  ^  In  regions  where  the  slave-trade  is  carried  on 
it  sometimes  happens  that  a  whole  group  of  children  will  be  rescued, 
with  hardly  any  possibility  of  restoring  them  to  their  homes.  In  fact, 
they  are  sometimes  so  young  as  to  be  unable  to  give  the  slightest  in- 
timation as  to  whence  they  came.  The  English  and  Scotch  mission- 
aries of  Central  and  Eastern  Africa  are  accustomed  to  receive  these 
waifs  and  train  them  in  homes  set  apart  for  the  purpose.  Thus  in  a 
variety  of  ways  missions  are  seeking  to  save  the  children.  With 
slender  means  and  limited  facilities  little  can  be  done  in  comparison 
with  the  vast  needs,  but  an  example  may  be  set,  a  standard  estab- 
lished, and  the  saving  efforts  of  Christian  nurture  and  philanthropy 
be  put  in  operation.  Thus  as  Christianity  becomes  more  powerful  a 
blessed  and  holy  ministry  in  the  name  of  Christ  will  be  inaugurated. 


^\ 


U'^  i 


9.  Diminishing  Infanticide.— All  that  has  been  said,  in  the 
previous  section,  with  reference  to  the  aid  and  protection  which  mis- 
sions are  instrumental  in  securing  for  children, 
Parental  thuegisra  in    applies   to  their  deliverance    from  the  criminal 
*"''»■•  '     i    'ity  of  infanticide.     If  they  are  aided  and 

i..  .cted  in  life,  they  are  saved  thereby  from  the 
inhuman  clutches  of  the  child  murderer.  This  parental  thuggism  has 
shadowed  for  unknown  generations  the  birth-hour  of  infant  daughters 

elevation  of  woman,  and  it  is  to  Christianity  that  the  world  must  again  look  for  hope. 
Under  Buddhist  teaching  these  sales  have  gone  on  for  centuries.  Shintoism  has 
done  nothing  to  imjjrove  the  situation  and  give  to  woman  the  rights  which  belong  to 
her  as  an  individual.  Not  until  the  coming  of  Christian  enlightenment  do  we  find 
any  relief  or  hope.  But  with  the  present  rate  of  social  progress  in  Japan,  the  sale 
of  girls  will  soon  be  a  custom  wholly  of  the  past."  —  Rev.  David  S.  Spencer 
(M.  E.  M.  S.),  Nagoya,  Japan. 

1  Tkt  Christum,  November  8,  1S94. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


275 


in  India  and  China,  and  among  the  savage  races  of  all  heathen  coun- 
tries. Tribal  or  family  pride  in  regard  to  marriage  stimulates  the 
fear  that  no  suitable  alliance  will  be  found  for  a  daughter,  and  thus  she 
may  become  an  occasion  of  humiliation  to  the  parental  honor.  The 
temptation  to  avoid  this  risk,  and  at  the  same  time  to  escape  from  the 
expense  and  trouble  involved  in  arranging  a  marriage,  is  strong  enough 
in  thousands  of  instances  to  stifle  natural  feeling  and  ensign  the  help- 
less infant  as  a  living  victim  to  this  Moloth  of  selfish  vanity.  Mr.  W. 
Crooke,  in  his  recent  volume  on  "  The  North-Western  Trovinces  of  In- 
dia,"  states  some  shocking  facts  concerning  the  former  prevalence  of  this 
crime  among  certain  tribes  of  North  India.*  At  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  infanticide  by  drowning,  and  especially  by  throwing  in- 
fants to  the  crocodiles  and  sharks  at  Saugor  Island  and  other  places,  was 
a  common  occurrence.  This  statement  has  been  sometimes  challenged 
by  zealous  and  possibly  ignorant  defenders  of  Hindu  character,  but  the 
Parliamentary  documents  and  correspondence,  and  the  regulations  pro- 
claimed by  the  British  Government  to  abolish  it,  are  all  on  record  and 
give  irrefragable  proof  that  this  despicable  and  unnatural  custom  pre- 
vailed.2  The  Government  went  so  far  as  to  place  a  guard  at  Saugor 
Island,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Hugh  River,  below  Calcutta,  to  prevent 
these  atrocious  acts,  which  were  usually  performed  in  fulfillment  of 
vows  made  under  the  influence  of  superstition. 

Concerning  infanticide  in  China  and  elsewhere  enough  has  been 
reported  in  Vol.  I.,  pp.  128-135.  The  author  desires  here  to  cor- 
rect an  impression  which  may  have  been  given  by  what  was  written 
(Vol.  I.,  p.  134)  on  the  doom  of  twins  in  Africa.  The  facts  as  there 
stated  are  stricdy  true  so  far  as  they  apply  to  the  section  referred 
to  on  the  West  Coast.  In  the  interior,  however,  and  in  regions  not  far 
from  the  head  waters  of  the  Congo  River,  there  are  certain  bribes  among 

1  He  refers  to  the  well-known  fact  that  it  is  a  point  of  honor  with  the  Rajputs, 
Jats,  Gujars,  and  other  tribes,  to  find  for  their  daughters  husbands  of  superior  rank, 
and  that  among  a  certain  clan,  known  as  the  Chauhans,  there  was  not  in  1843  a  sin- 
gle female  child  (p.  136).  Cf.  also  Dubois,  "  Hindu  Manners,  Customs,  and  Cere- 
monies," new  edition,  1897,  pp.  506,  612. 

•  Cf.  The  Indian  Evangelical  Revinv,  January,  1897,  article  entitled  "  Papers 
Relative  to  Infanticide  by  Drowning,  Practised  by  the  Hindus  at  Saugor  and  Other 
Places,  1 794-1820,"  pp.  297-302,  in  which  the  Government  regulations  are  given 
in  full. 

"  In  1802  the  Marquis  of  Wellesley  published  an  order  declaring  infanticide  to 
be  murder,  and  punishable  with  death,  and  yet  so  late  as  the  year  1836  it  was  esti- 
mated by  a  Rajput  chief  that  as  many  as  20,000  inlant  girls  were  destroyed  annu- 
ally in  the  Provinces  of  Malwa  and  Rajputana  tHioxi^.^—Tht  Indian  Evangelical 
Review,  April,  1898,  p.  386. 


Ill 


1, 

I 


If! 

i. 


If 


276 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


whom  quite  the  opposite  feeling  seems  to  be  found,  since  they  extend 
a  welcome  to  twins  and  treat  them  with  special  honor.* 

If  we  inquire  what  saving  power  has  been  exerted  on  behalf  of  these 

innocents,  we  should  not  fail  to  note  the  measures,  most  creditable  to 

Christian  rule,  which  are  taken  by  the  British  Gov- 

B,uuh*Q"'or.rnilnt  in  *™™^"^ '"  ^"'^'^  ^^^  *^«  Suppression  of  infanticide. 
India.  The  iniquity  is  a  difficult  one  to  eradicate.     It  was 

not  considered  murder  until  so  declared  by  British 
authority,  since  parents  were  regarded  as  having  the  power  of  life  and 
death  over  their  children.     As  before  stated,  it  has  been  prohibited  by 
the  Government  since  1802,  and  was  made  a  crime  according  to  the 
Penal  Code  Act  of  i860,  while  still  another  Act  requiring  the  registra- 
tion of  all  births  was  passed  in  1870,  with  a  view  to  restricting  in- 
fanticide.    In  addition,  a  strict  watch  was  established  over  the  relative 
proportion  of  boys  and  giris  reported  as  bom.     In  this  way  the  crime 
has  come  more  and  more  under  an  official  ban,  although  there  is  still 
no  assurance  that  it  is  not  perpetrated  secretly  either  by  neglect,  or 
other  methods  which  defy  the  detection  of  the  Government.     The 
Indian  Social  Reformer  of  March  21,  1897,  in  an  editorial  on  "  Female 
Infanticide  in  the  Punjab,"  intimates  as  much  as  this.     An  article  in 
The  Calcutta  Revieui  for  January,  1807,  deals  with  the  subject  histori- 
cally, and  shows  that  it  is  a  practice  of  very  ancient  origin,  which  is  not 
by  any  means  at  an  end.     The  Pundita  Ramabai  is  quoted  as  asserting 
"  the  prevalence  of  infanticide  in  some  parts  of  India  in  spite  of  laws 
for  its  repression."  2     Dr.  Carey  and  others  of  the  eariy  missionaries 
were  earnest  advocates  of  aggressive  legislation  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  long  before  the  present  regulations  were  adopted.     "  The 
first  reform  he  helped  to  effect,"  says  a  biographer  of  Dr.  Carey,  "  was 
the  prohibition  of  the  jar-ifice  of  children  at  the  great  annual  festival 
at  Gunga  Saugor."  3    All  honor,  too,  is  due  to  humane  British  officials 

>  The  late  Bishop  Crowther  wrote  as  follows :  "  Many  thousand  twin  infants 
have  been  barbarously  destroyed  by  some  tribes,  while  others  spare  these  infants, 
and  worship  the  supposed  goddess  as  generous." 

Mr.  F.  S.  Arnot,  in  writing  of  pioneer  mission  work  in  Garenganze,  states : 
"  Twins,  strange  to  say,  are  not  only  allowed  to  live,  but  the  people  delight  in 
them."— Arnot,  "  Garenganze,"  p.  241. 

2  The  Sentinel,  February,  1897,  p.  23;  IVorld-lVide Missions,  September,  1898, 
p.  1  In  one  of  the  Thaknr  villages  of  the  North-West  Provinces,  a  census  taken 
in  1897  revealed  the  fact  that  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  children  were  boys  an.l 
only  fifteen  per  cent,  were  girls.  See  The  Indian  Evangelical  Review,  April,  1898, 
p.  510- 

s  Creegan,  "  Great  Missionaries  of  the  Church,"  p.  SS-  Cf.  also  Thoburn, 
"India and  Malaysia,"  p.  186. 


:  'i 


III  3! 


2  z 


2     c  i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


377 


c  ^ 


who  h»ve  used  their  influence  and  exerted  their  authority  to  repress 
this  secret  enormity  of  Hindu  society. 

In  China,  where  no  Christian  Government  is  on  the  alert,  mis- 
sionaries have  found  a  more  immediate  responsibih'ty  resting  upon  them 
to  save  infant  life.     In  a  recent  volume  by  Irene 
H.  Barnes,  entitled  "Behind  the  Great  Wall,"  is       8p.eui .irorti of 
a  chapter  on  "  The  Cry  of  the  Chinese  Children."   mi««ion«ri««  in  China. 
The  statements  of  several  of  those  devoted  women 
who  were  murdered  at  Kucheng,  1895,  are  given  as  to  the  prevalence  of 
infanticide  in  that  section  of  China  (the  Province  of  Fuhkien),  and  the 
efforts  of  Miss  Elsie  Marshall  and  Miss  Hessie  Newcombe  to  rescue 
these  little  waifs  are  described.*     A  glance  at  letters  from  the  field  will 
reveal  how  often  these  abandoned  infants  are  rescued  by  missionaries 
and  in  some  way  cared  for.2     At  Hong  Kong  is  a  missionary  institu- 
tion known  as  the  Berlin  Foundling  Home,  which  is  maintained  by  the 
Berlin  Ladies'  Association.     An  organization  is  reported  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  China,  "  for 
saving  baby  giris  from  destruction."     In  the  same  paragraph  is  found 
the  following  statement :  "  In  all  our  churches  we  have  a  stock  of  old 
clothes  so  as  to  provide  for  the  children  whom  the  mothers  cast  away. 
Then  we  have  pamphlets  issued  pointing  out  the  wickedness  of  the  cus- 
tom of  infanticide."'    Under  the  restraints  of  Christianity  the  crime 
has  diminished  to  a  considerable  extent.*     It  is  true  that  the  Chinese 
Government  has  issued  decrees  forbidding  infanticide  and  has  estab- 
lished foundling  hospitals  for  the  reception  of  baby  giris,  but  the  care 
given  in  these  institutions,  and  the  provision  made  for  the  children, 
are,  as  Miss  Gordon-Cumming  states,  y  without  any  pretense  to  clean- 
liness or  comfort."    She  writes :  "  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  miser- 
able children  are  horribly  neglected,  and  the  sound  of  their  ceaseless, 
pitiful  wailing  is  heard  even  before  we  enter  this  abode  of  infant  mis- 
ery." 5    The  Rev.  M.  Mackenzie,  of  the  English  Presbyterian  Mission, 
states  that  the  evil  has  decreased  in  South  China,  and  this  result  he 
traces  in  part  to  "the  example  of  Christian  parents  sparing  the  lives 


■  K 


i| 


1  Barnes.  "  Behind  the  Great  Wall,"  pp.  91-98.    Cf.  also  Johnston,  "  China  and 
Formosa,"  p.  30. 

a  Life  and  Light  for  Woman,  March,  1894,  p.  143;  Heathen  Woman's  Friend. 
September,  1894,  p.  68. 

*  "  Report  of  the  Religions  Tract  Society,  1894,"  p.  167. 
«  Johnston,  ••  China  and  Formosa,"  p.  31.     See  Regiont  Beyond,  June,  i8oy. 
p.  279.  ■*       '      "» 

»  Barnes,  "  Behind  the  Great  Wall,"  p.  94. 


r 


; 

1 

1 

''■'1: 

878  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  FXOGXESS 

of  .11  their  children." »  "  How  is  it  that  you  keep  your  girU?  "  in- 
quired  Mr.  Bonsey,  of  the  London  Mission,  Hankow,  as  he  visited  some 
Chinese  homes  where  there  were  several  of  them.  "  We  see  that  the 
Christians  are  keeping  their  girls,  and  we  think,  perhaps,  we  might  be 
able  to  do  the  same,"  was  the  reply.'  The  Rev.  J.  Macgowan  (L.  M.S.), 
of  Amoy,  writes  that  through  the  influence  of  Christianity  "  foundling 
institutions  were  established  which  are  still  carried  on,  and  now  have 
fully  two  thousand  children  in  connection  with  them.  These  children  are 
kept  for  a  certain  tune,  and  then  given  to  people  who  are  childless,  or 
who  wish  to  rear  them  to  become  future  daughters-in-law.  Thousands 
of  women  are  alive  to-day  who  but  for  Christianity  would  have  been 

put  to  death." '  .      -      •. 

One  of  the  older  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  at  Foochow 
remarks  that  in  that  region  forty  years  ago,  according  to  native  state- 
ments, about  sixty  or  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  female  infants  were 
drowned  at  birth,  or  destroyed  in  some  other  way.     Missionancs,  how. 
ever,  made  such  an  impression  by  their  appeals  and  protests  that  the 
ruling  class  sought  to  put  a  check  upon  the  prevailing  tendency,  and 
about  twenty  years  ago  a  proclamation  engraved  upon  stone  was  set 
up  by  the  roadside  in  prominent  places,  announcing  that  "the  drown- 
ing of  female  infants  is  forever  forbidden."     It  was  supplemented  by 
official  notices  threatening  severe  punishment  to  parents  guilty  of  the 
crime,  and  a  lighter  punishment  to  neighbors  who  failed  to  report  it. 
The  Tf  valt  has  been  so  efiEective  that  infanticide  in  that  vicmity  occurs 
now  only  infrequently.     Still  another  cause  cooperated,  no  doubt,  to 
check  the  evil.     The  price  of  marriageable  girls  rose  so  high  that  the 
preservation  of  infant  daughters  became  a  profitable  speculation.     The 
same  missionary,  the  Rev.  Charies  Hartwell,  states  that  missions  in 
that  section  "have  had  a  great  influence  in  heightening  the  regard  paid 
to  the  female  sex."     The  Rev.  Gilbert  Reid  writes  to  the  author  that 
"missions  have  tended  to  make  more  sacred  the  life  of  girls,  and  to 
lessen  the  evil  of  infanticide."  _ 

Another  part  of  the  worid  which  has  long  been  notorious  for  this 

1  The  Monthly  Messenger,  June,  1897,  p.  160. 

»  Ibid.,  August,  1893,  p.  175-  .  ... 

»  "  I  recaU  one  happy  household,  father  «.d  mother  both  earnest,  consisten 
Christians ,  they  had  six  daughters  and  no  sons.  It  is  almost  certain  that,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  influence  of  Christianity  in  and  around  the.r  family,  some  of  the  e 
bright,  merry  children  would  have  been  suppressed  at  birth,  and  that  there  would 
have  '.ieen  no  peace  and  good-will  in  the  family.  It  is  also  poss.ble  that  a  second 
wife  might  have  been  brought  into  the  home,"-Rev.  John  Murray  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N. ). 
Chinanfu,  Shantung.  China. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


370 


iniquity  is  the  South  Seas,  where  missionary  success  has  in  many 
instances  entirely  abolished  the  custom.  Even  in  some  of  the  islands 
where  Christianity  has  only  as  yet  a  partial  hold, 
"  the  practice  of  infanticide,  once  so  common,  has  chacktng  infant  murd«r 
been  very  much  reduced."  It  is  stated  in  a  re-  ">  »•••  ••»»»  •"* 
view  of  mission  results  in  the  Pacific  that  "  in  the 
Christian  communities  infanticide,  formerly  so  prevalent,  is  now  thought 
of  only  with  abhorrence."  *  The  Bishop  of  Tasmania,  in  an  account 
of  his  visit  to  the  Solomon  Islands  in  1893,  quotes  Bishop  Patteson  as 
lamenting  in  his  day  (1866)  the  scarcity  of  children  and  the  terrible 
frequency  of  infanticide.  While  it  is  true  that  the  crime  of  child  murder 
may  not  have  been  wholly  abolished,  yet  it  has  been  greatly  reduced.^ 
At  the  present  time  the  wives  of  the  native  teachers  in  San  Cristoval 
are  often  instrumental  in  saving  infant  lives,  as  they  have  received  in- 
structions to  offer  their  services  and  extend  protection  to  babes  newly 
born.'  In  the  missionary  occupation  of  New  Guinea  much  good  has 
been  done  by  the  South  Sea  Island  teachers  in  checking  this  evil.  It 
is  reported  that  "  on  Oarnley  Island,  Gucheng,  the  teacher,  had  done 
well.     In  a  few  months  this  brave  fellow  practically  stan  )Ut  the 

custom  of  strangling  infants  at  birth."* 

In  Africa,  also,  missions  are  in  conflict  with  this  strange  aspect  of 
human  savagery.  Among  the  West  Coast  tribes,  where  the  murder 
of  twins  is  so  common,  we  find  the  communities 
of  native  Christians  altogether  purged  of  the  un-  a  happier  day  for  twins 
natural  custom.  The  records  of  Gospel  progress  '"  *•"  ^'^  *^°"*- 
have  everywhere  this  significant  commentary: 
"  The  people  have  given  up  twin  murder  and  human  sacrifices."  A 
letter  from  Ikorofiong,  one  of  the  United  Presbyterian  mission  stations 
in  Old  Calabar,  contains  the  following  auspicious  item  of  int'ormation : 
"  A  month  or  so  ago  twin  children  were  bom  to  one  of  our  church- 
members,  and  they  have  not  only  been  kept  and  well  cared  for,  but 
both  the  parents  are  delighted  with  them,  and  told  us  that  they  were 
sure  that  God  would  bless  the  children.  When  we  go  to  see  them  the 
mother  is  so  happy  and  bright  that  it  is  a  real  joy  to  meet  her.  To 
many  of  the  women  here  the  greatest  calamity  that  can  befall  them 
is  to  give  birth  to  twin  children."*     It  is  recorded  of  the  late  Rev. 


!  i*\ 


»  The  Chroniclt,  September,  1894,  p.  a  12.     Cf.  also  Alexander,  "  The  Islands 
of  the  Pacific,"  pp.  94,  476. 

*  Montgomery,  "  The  Light  of  Melanesia,"  pp.  166,  167.       »  Ibid.,  p.  168. 

*  Home,    '  rhe  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  400, 

*  'J'he  Missionary  Record,  November,  1894,  p.  317. 


280 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


N  il 


Hugh  Goldie,  of  Old  Calabar,  that,  in  the  early  dayi  o(  the  mission,  he 
and  Mr.  Waddell,  with  Mr.  Anderson,  "  determined  to  take  their  stand 
against  the  prevalent  custom  o£  twin  murder.  They  found  that  this 
reform  was  even  harder  to  accomplish  than  the  abolition  of  human 
sacrifices."  The  efforts  towards  this  end  were  stoutly  opposed  by  the 
native  chiefs,  and  especially  by  the  women  themselves.  At  last  King 
Eyo,  of  Creek  Town,  decreed  that  the  murder  of  twins  or  their  mother 
was  henceforth  to  be  a  capital  crime,  but,  since  the  mother  and  her 
infants  could  not  be  ptrmitied  to  live  in  the  town,  a  place  outside  should 
be  found  for  them.  This  was  in  1 85 1 .  Since  then  the  battle  has  been 
fought  and  won,  and  in  the  agreement  of  1878,  drawn  up  between  the 
British  Consul  at  Old  Calabar  and  the  leading  men  of  the  country  (a 
document  which  Consul  Hopkins  declared  to  be  possible  only  because  of 
missionary  influence),  the  first  article  condemns  the  crime  under  consid- 
eration.i  The  influence  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  missionaries  in  OUl 
Calabar  at  the  present  time  is  commented  upon  by  a  recent  traveller,  with 
special  mention  of  their  success  in  suppressing  infant  murder.'  The 
Rev.  George  Grenfell,  an  English  Baptist  missionary  of  the  Upper 
Congo,  writes  that  "  the  constant  enunciation  of  the  teaching  that  human 
life  is  sacred  has  established  a  sentiment  which  is  preventive  of  much 
infanticide,  and  has  saved  the  lives  of  many  who  would  otherwise  have 
been  sacrificed,  in  accordance  with  the  cruel  customs  and  superstitions 
of  the  country." 

The  Reports  of  the  Universities'  Mission  refer  to  the  decrease  of 
child  murder  in  East  Africa,  which  in  one  place,  at  least,  was  so  "  hor- 
ribly general  that  in  1895  our  missionaries  knew  of  at  least  forty  chil- 
dren killed  in  Kologwe  Town  alone,  at  or  shortly  after  birth."  »  The 
Scotch  missionaries  of  British  Central  Africa  announce  a  similar  dimi- 
nution  wherever  their  work  has  extended.     The  venerable  M.  Frangois 

>  The  text  of  the  article  is  as  follows :  "  Whoever  wilfully  takes  the  life  of  a 
twin  child  or  children  shall  be  adjudged  liable  to  the  penalty  of  death.  Any  persons 
wilfully  concealing  any  fact  that  may  come  to  their  knowledge  of  the  murder  of  twins 
shall  be  considered  accessories  of  the  fact,  and  shall  be  liable  to  such  punishment  at 
the  consul  shall  direct.  Mothers  of  twin  children  in  future  shall  have  full  liberty 
to  visit  the  town,  and  buy  and  sell  in  the  markets,  the  same  as  any  other  women,  and 
they  shall  not  be  molested  in  any  way."— Dickie,  "  Story  ot  the  Mission  in  Old 
Calabar,"  p.  78. 

»  Captain  Boisragon,  m  his  volume  on  "  The  Benin  Massacre,"  refers  to  Miss 
Mary  M.  Slessor,  one  of  the  missionaries,  as  follows.  "  She  has  got  such  a  hold 
over  the  people  that  all  killing  of  twins  and  such  like  evil  customs  have  been  abso- 
lutely stopped."  His  reference  is  to  the  district  of  Okoyong,  where  Miss  Slessor 
resides.     See  The  Missionary  Kicord,  March,  1898,  p.  q6. 

*    •  Report  oJ  the  Universities'  Mission  to  Central  Africa,  1896,"  p.  8. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  AtJSSW.SS 


981 


Coillard,  of  the  Soci^t^  des  Miwiont  fA'aiigcliqticM  de  Paris,  in  hit 
recent  fascinating  volume,  speaks  of  infanticide  as  "  fearfully  common  " 
among  the  Barotsi  of  the  Upper  Zambesi  \'i.lley, 
in  the  very  heart  of  Central  Africa  south  of  the  Th«  infant  dvatb-roii  or 
etjiator,  and  states  that  there  is  virtually  no  recog-  ■•»  >'»j«  African  viiiag*- 
nized  sentiment  against  it.  "  Public  opinion,"  he 
writes,  "does  not  in  the  least  deter  from  these  revolting  atrocities."* 
M.  Coillard  and  his  devoted  wife  have  done  much  to  check  this  and 
similar  brutal  practices  in  the  Zambesi  Vulley.  What  such  a  fight  with 
I  lie  tyranny  of  custom  means  cannot  be  realized  except  by  those 
1  who  have  had  some  personal  experience  among  primitive  races.     I'he 

murder  of  infants  in  Galla  communities  seems  to  have  been  a  prev- 
alent evil  which  missionary  influence  has  succeeded  in  lessening." 
In  Madagascar  a  conspicuous  effect  of  Christianity  wherever  it  has 
penetrated  is  that  infanticide  is  a  thing  of  the  past.^ 

The  degraded  Indir   <  nf  North  and  South  America  have  often  been 
guilty  of  the  murder  of      ildren,  but  the  restraining  power  of  missions 
has  become  manifest.     "  We  have  been  very  much     D«gr«d«d  indiam  in 
grieved  of  late,"  writes  a  missionary  among  the  Nortii  and  South  Amar- 
Chaco,  of  Paraguay,  "at  the  number  of  young  J^'plVl^Tm^hlu 
children  who  have  been  murdered,  and  have  been    miitionary  teachan. 
forced  to  take  severe  measures  with  those  who  carry  on  this  horrible 
practice."     A  man  who  had  been  guilty  of  the  crime  was  severely  re- 
proved, and  a  promise  obtained  from  him  that  he  would  not  kill  an- 
other child.     He  has  kept  this  promise.     Other  instances  are  given  in 
which  children  have  been  thus  saved.*    According  to  a  law  of  the 

»  Coillard,  "  On  the  Threshold  of  Central  Africa,"  p.  399. 

*  "  Infanticide  is  common  among  the  Gallas.  The  first-bom  child,  especially 
if  a  female,  must  be  thrown  into  the  woods  to  starve  or  he  eaten  by  wild  animals. 
As  tkt  rtsult  largely  of  palavtrs  with  missionaries,  many  of  the  Dallas  have  come  to 
see  the  folly  of  obeying  such  a  cruel  custom,  and  a  few  months  ago  Boru  Dolu 
(the  king  elect)  and  seven  other  leading  men  in  this  station  publicly  announced  their 
determination  to  give  up  the  abominable  practice.  The  Gallas  of  other  towns  will 
no  doubt  follow  suit."-Rev.  R.  M.  Ormerod  (U.  M.  F.  C.  S.),  Golbanti,  East 
Africa. 

»  "  Infanticide  used  to  prevail  to  such  an  extent  that  hundreds  of  infants  born  in 
Madagascar  were  murdered  every  year.  That  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  No  month  is 
now  considered  unlucky  for  the  '  little  siranger '  to  make  its  appearance  in,  and  the 
spark  of  life  is  never  unnaturally  extinguished  in  any  infant  in  those  parts  of  Mada- 
gascar where  Christianity  has  been  planted,  and  where  it  has  successfully  taken  root." 
—Rev.  J.  Pearse  (L.  M.  S.),  Fianarantsoa,  Madagascar. 

•  The  South  American  Missionary  Magazine,  September,  1897,  P>  I39;  October, 
1897.  P-  156. 


fl 


ilii 


nil 


i      i 


282  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Chacos,  if  a  mother  dies  leaving  a  little  babe,  the  child  must  be  buried 
alive  with  her.  When  this  emergency  arises  it  is  the  habit  of  mission- 
aries to  plead  for  the  life  of  the  child,  and  they  are  oftentimes  suc- 
cessful.i  The  same  custom  of  infanticide  and  burying  the  child  alive 
with  its  dead  mother  prevailed  in  Greenland  before  the  introduction 
of  Christianity.  "  Among  the  Eskimos  baby  girls  are  sometimes  smoth- 
ered, and  in  hard  times  old  people  are  left  to  perish,  or  are  put  to  death 
by  their  relatives."  -  The  Indians  of  North  America,  especially  the  far 
Northwest,  are  known  to  be  guilty  of  infant  murder.  Dr.  Sheldon 
Jackson  writes  of  the  Eskimos  of  Alaska,  that  "  they  sometimes  destroy 
their  offspring,  particularly  if  the  child  is  a  giri."  »  The  Rer.  E.  H. 
Edson,  a  missionary  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Alaska, 
states  that  "  infanticide  is  very  common."  *  From  the  wild  north  land, 
towards  Great  Bear  Lake,  the  missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  also  report  that  the  killing  of  infant  giris  is  not  uncommon. 
Christian  converts  confess  that  in  their  heathen  days  they  have  been 
guilty  of  killing  infants." 

Thus  the  evidence  seems  conclusive  that  Christian  missions  are 
pleading  and  contending  for  the  sacredness  of  infant  life,  wherever  they 
have  an  opportunity  to  grapple  with  the  despicable  crime  of  child 
murder. 


J 


III.-RESULTS  OF  A    HUMANE   AND   PHILAN- 
THROPIC  TENDENCY 


11  !1 


"The  God  that  answereth  by  orphanages,  let  Him  be  God,"  is  a  chal- 
lenge which  Christianity  does  not  fear  to  give.     The  sentence  simply 
puts  in  graphic  form  the  unanswerable  argument 
The  hum.nit.rian      of  Christian  philanthropy  in  support  of  the  divine 
v.iue  of  miitioni.      origin  of  the  Gospel.     We  have  presented  evidence 
that  missions  have  created  a  new  basis  of  personal 
character  and  a  better  environment  for  individual  development.     It 
has  been  shown  that  they  have  implanted  a  nobler  spirit  in  the  family, 
bringing  to  it  blessings  and  hopes  hitherto  unknown.     We  shall  now 
advance  the  claim  that  they  have  also  stimulated  impulses  and  started 

1  "  South  America:  the  Neglected  Continent,"  p.  152. 

»   The  Gospel  in  all  Lands,  December,   1894,  p.  539. 

>  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  January,  1894,  p.  7. 

«  The  Spirit  0/  Missions,  November,  1895,  p.  471. 

«  Headland,  "  Brief  Sketches  of  C.  M.  S.  Missions,"  Part  III.,  p.  tSo. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


383 


movements  which  have  wrought  for  the  more  general  welfare  and  hap- 
piness of  mankind  by  promoting  hunr  le  policies,  banishing  cruel  cus- 
toms, securing  the  relief  of  suffering,  and  providing  for  the  comfort  of 
the  dependent  and  helpless  classes  of  society.  Many  and  impressive 
specifications  present  themselves  in  this  connection,  which  call  for  care- 
ful investigation,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  yield  a  generous  reward  to  the 
patient  student. 


11 


I.  Hastening   the   Suppression   of   the    Slave-Trade   and 
Labor-Traffic— The  very  mention  of  this  subject  calls  to  mind  the 
name  of  a  great  missionary,  one  whose  memory  is 
garlanded  with  a  tribute  of  world-wide  admiration    LivingBtone  •  pioneer 

.      ,  ,.,,.,  .1-  1       ,  •  ■       ,        in  the  modern  crutade 

and  whore  life  fitly  symbolizes  the  historic  attitude  against  the  slave-trade, 
of  missions  towards  this  colossal  wrong.  It  was 
in  1852  that  Livingstone  began  his  heroic  journey  from  Cape  Colony 
northward  into  Central  Africa,  and  during  a  period  beginning  not  long 
after  that  date,  and  lasting  until  his  death  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Bang- 
weolo,  in  1873,  his  voice  rang  through  Christendom  in  denunciation  of 
this  detestable  crime.  It  was  not  far  from  the  noble  mission  church  at 
Blantyre  that  Livingstone,  in  1861,  accompanied  by  an  exploring  party 
of  the  Universities'  Mission,  first  wrenched  the  slave-sticks  from  the 
necks  of  a  captive  gang  of  slaves.^  Sir  Harry  H.  Johnston,  in  an  his- 
torical sketch  of  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade  in  British  Central 
Africa,  writes :  "  Dr.  Livingstone,  however,  appeared  on  the  scene,  and 
his  appeals  to  the  British  public  gradually  drew  our  attention  to  the 
slave-trade  in  Eastern  Central  Africa,  until,  as  the  direct  result  of  Liv- 
ingstone's work,  slavery  and  the  slave-trade  are  now  at  an  end  within 
the  British  Central  Africa  Protectorate,  and  are  fast  disappearing  in  tii" 
regions  beyond  under  the  South  Africa  Company ;  and  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  Zanzibar  will  shortly  be  decreed  as  a  final  triumph  to  Living- 
stone's appeal."  2     It  is  now  almost  half  a  century  since  this  intrepid 

1  An  illustration  of  the  Blantyre  Church  is  given  in  Vol.  I.,  p.  459. 

*  Johnston,  "  British  Central  Africa,"  p.  157. 

Dr.  Blaikie,  in  his  "  Life  of  David  Livingstone,"  refers  in  the  following  terms 
to  his  influence  both  before  and  ifter  his  death,  as  a  pioneer  in  the  extermination  of 
African  slavery :  "  The  heart  of  David  Livingstone  was  laid  under  the  mvula-tree  in 
Ilala,  and  his  bones  in  Westminster  Abbey ;  but  his  spirit  marched  on.  The  history 
of  his  life  is  not  completed  with  the  record  of  his  death.  .  .  From  the  worn-out 
figure  kneeling  at  the  bedside  in  the  hut  in  Ilala  an  electric  spark  seemed  to  fly,  quick- 
ening hearts  on  every  side.     The  statesman  felt  it;  it  put  new  vigor  into  the 


iii 


'iA  \ 


ill 


%■ 


284 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


explorer  entered  the  dark  realms  of  African  cruelty.  Marvelous  prog- 
ress has  been  made  in  the  destruction  of  this  cursed  traffic,  and  one 
may  even  hope  that  the  jubilee  anniversary  of  Livingstone's  first  blow 
at  the  slave-trade  will  witness  its  virtual  overthrow  in  Africa,  except 
as  it  may  still  lurk  in  hidden  recesses  of  the  Continent.  Events  which 
have  transpired  within  a  brief  period,  such  as  its  suppression  in  British 
Central  Africa,  its  prohibition  by  official  decree  in  the  Niger  Pro- 
tectorate, including  the  immense  Hinterland  of  the  Royal  Niger 
Company,  and  the  abolishment  not  only  of  the  slave-trade  but  of  the 
status  of  slavery  in  the  Zanzibar  Sultanate,  all  show  the  rapid  march 
of  stupendous  changes  throughout  Africa. 

The  story  of  the  attitude  of  Christian  nations  towards  the  slave-trade, 
from  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteep.th  to  the  first  decade  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  ib  a  dark  and  dismal  chapter  in  the 

The  Chriitian  origin  of  ,       ,  ,  •     ,  ,       ,  .,    •    .  ,  . 

the  fir»t  efforts  to  annals  of  mankmd,  but  happily  it  is  now  past  history, 
■uppress  the  traffic  in  jt  is  a  dreadful  record  of  what  has  been  called  the 
"  Christian  slave-trade  "  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
Mohammedan  traffic*  While  it  is  true  that  nations  Christian  in 
name  were  sadly  compromised  by  their  unworthy  representatives  in 
promoting  this  vile  traffic,  yet  we  should  not  fail  to  note  that  under 
the  pressure  of  an  aggressive  Christian  protest,  on  the  part  of  con- 
scientious citizens,  these  same  nations  were  also  active  in  its  suppres- 
sion, the  eyes  of  their  people  having  been  opened  to  its  enormities  and 
abominable  wickedness.  The  influences  which  brought  about  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  traffic  in  slaves  throughout  the  British  Empire,  in  1807,  are 
described  by  Dr.  Ingram  as  largely  Christian.  "  It  is  unquestionable," 
he  writes,  "that  the  principal  motive  power  which  originated  and 
sustained  their  efforts  was  Christian  principle  and  feeling."  The  state- 
ment is  made  with  reference  to  the  members  of  the  Committee  appointed 
in  1787  for  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave-Trade  throughout  the  British 
Empire,  who,  after  a  struggle  lasting  twenty  years,  accomplished  their 


despatches  he  wrote  and  the  measures  he  devised  with  regard  to  the  slave-trade.  The 
merchant  (elt  it,  and  began  to  plan  in  earnest  how  to  traverse  the  continent  with 
roads  and  railways,  and  open  it  to  commerce  from  shore  to  centre.  The  explorer 
felt  it,  and  started  with  high  purpose  on  new  scenes  of  unknown  danger.  The  mis- 
sionary felt  it, — felt  it  a  reproof  of  past  languor  and  unbelief,— and  found  himself 
lifted  to  a  higher  level  of  faith  and  devotion.  No  parliament  of  philanthropy  was 
held ;  but  the  verdict  was  as  unanimous  and  as  hearty  as  if  the  Christian  world  had 
met  and  passed  the  resolution:  '  Livingstone's  work  shall  not  die:  AFRICA  SHALL 
LIVE'"  (pp.  480,  481). 

1  Ingram,  "  A  History  of  Slavery  and  Serfdom,"  pp.  140-IJ4;  Froude,  "  Eng- 
lish Seamen  in  the  Sixteenth  Century." 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


386 


purpose.*     Other  civilized  nations  followed  in  quick  succession,  the 
United  States  acting  simultaneously  with  Great  Britain. 

The  treaty  agreements  between  the  Christian  Powers  did  not,  how- 
ever, put  a  stop  to  an  illicit  traffic  carried  on  for  over  half  a  century  in 
defiance  of  international  agreements.  The  struggle  to  secure  coopera- 
tion among  the  nations  in  establishing  really  effective  barriers  to  the 
prosecution  of  the  trade  resulted  in  extended,  difficult,  and  discouragingly 
futile  negotiations.  The  refusal  of  the  United  States  Government  to 
assent  to  the  Right  of  Search  prolonged  the  existence  of  the  slave-traffic 
in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  suppress  it.  The  year  1838  is  declared  to  be 
the  worst  on  record  since  the  formal  abolishment  of  the  African  slave- 
trade,  in  respect  to  the  mortality  and  misery  inflicted  by  it.2  It  was 
at  this  juncture  that  Sir  T.  Fov/ell  Buxton  began  his  crusade  against  the 
il,  and  was  instrumental  in  securing  a  government  expedition  for  the 
discovery  and  capture  of  slavers  on  the  African  coast.'  Efforts  look- 
ing to  its  overthrow  have  increased  up  to  the  present  hour  under  the 
auspices  of  civilized  governments.  Great  Britain  playing  the  leading  r61e, 
and  offering  the  services  of  her  navy  and  the  cooperation  ' '  .r  officials 
at  critical  points.  To  the  latter  belongs  a  meed  of  special  lise  in  this 
noble  humanitarian  crusade.*    The  Brussels  Conference    .1  1889-90 

1  "  A  History  of  Slavery  and  Serfdom,"  pp.  160,  163. 

'^  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  June,  1897,  p.  425. 

'  It  is  stated  that  in  1837  "  the  American  importation  was  estimated  as  high  as 
200,000  negroes  annually.  The  total  abolition  of  the  African  trade  by  American 
countries  then  brought  the  traffic  down  to  perhajrs  30,000  in  1842.  A  large  and 
rapid  increase  of  illicit  traffic  followed,  so  that  by  1847  the  importation  amounted  to 
nearly  100,000  annually.  One  province  of  Brazil  is  said  to  have  received  173,000 
in  the  years  1846-49.  In  the  decade  1850-60  this  activity  in  slave-trading  con- 
tinued, and  reached  very  large  proportions.  The  traffic  thus  carried  on  floated  under 
the  flags  of  France,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  until  about  1830;  from  1830  to  1840  it 
began  gradually  to  assume  the  United  States  flag;  by  1845  a  large  part  of  the  trade 
was  under  the  stars  and  stripes ;  by  1850  fully  one  half  the  trade,  and  in  the  decade 
1850-60  nearly  all  the  traffic,  found  this  flag  its  best  protection.  .  .  . 

"  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  the  Lincoln  administration,  through  Secre- 
tary Seward,  immediately  expressed  a  willingness  to  do  all  in  its  power  to  suppress 
the  slave-trade.  Accordingly,  June  7,  1862,  a  treaty  was  signed  with  Great  Britain 
granting  a  mutual  limited  Right  of  Search,  and  establishing  mixed  courts  for  the  trial 
of  offenders  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Sierra  Leone,  and  New  York.  The  efforts 
of  a  half-century  of  diplomacy  were  finally  crowned ;  Seward  wrote  to  Adams  :  '  Had 
such  a  treaty  been  made  in  1808,  there  would  now  have  been  no  sedition  here.'  "  — 
Du  Bois,  "The  Suppression  of  the  African  Slave-Trade,''  pp.  143,  150. 

*  For  a  valuable  summary  of  well-authenticated  historical  data,  cf.  Dn  Bois, 
"The  Suppression  of  the  African  Slave-Trade,"  chap,  ix.,  on  "The  International 
Status  of  the  Slave-Trade,  1783-1862." 


I*, 


m 


HI 


230 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


\    I 


P     i 


agreed  upon  tentative  provisions  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade, 
which  should  now,  however,  be  revised  and  made  more  effective.  This 
subject,  with  that  of  the  supply  of  alcoholic  liquors  and  firearms  to  na- 
tives, will,  it  is  hoped,  be  considered  and  dealt  with  at  an  early  day  in 
a  way  to  promote  the  higher  welfare  of  native  races. 

Let  us  begin  our  survey  of  the  direct  service  which  Christian  mis- 
sions have  rendered  with  a  glance  at  the  situation  on  the  East  Coast 

of  Africa.     A  brief  summary  of  historical  facts 

Mission,  and  the  East  Concerning  the  East  African  slave-trade  will  be 

Coast  slave-trade,      found  in  Vol.  I.,  p.  141.      As  there  stated,  the 

treaty  between  England  and  the  Sultan  of  Zan- 
zibar, in  1873,  consummated  through  the  special  efforts  of  Sir  Bartle 
Frere  and  Dr.  (afterwards  Sir)  John  Kirk,  prohibited  the  traffic  in  the 
sultanate,  including  the  Island  of  Pemba.  When  an  English  pro- 
tectorate was  established  over  the  Sultanate  of  Zanzibar,  in  1890,  the 
stipulations  of  this  treaty  were  accepted  and  confirmed  by  the  Sultan. 
So  far  as  it  affected  the  trade  itself,  however,  its  inefficiency  became 
notorious.  In  Great  Britain  the  pressure  of  the  opponents  of  slavery 
was  steadily  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Government  to  abolish  altogether 
its  status  in  Zanzibar,  as  the  only  effective  measure  for  bringing  the 
traffic  in  slaves  to  an  end,  since  the  legal  existence  of  slavery  was  a  con- 
stant stimulus  to  the  illicit  trade.  The  British  Government  finally 
abolished  the  status  of  slavery  in  Zanzibar  and  Pemba  on  April  6, 
1897.  During  all  these  years  missionaries  have  had  an  influential  part 
to  play  in  furthering  this  consummation.  They  have  given  prompt 
information  of  any  infraction  of  the  treaty  of  1873  which  fell  under 
their  notice,  and  have  cooperated  with  cordial  sympathy,  so  far  as  their 
circumstances  would  allow,  in  all  efforts  of  the  Government  and  of  the 
British  East  Africa  Company.  Of  late  years  they  have  spoken  and 
written  with  much  urgency  concerning  the  duty  of  the  Government 
to  put  an  effectual  stop  to  the  cruelties  ana  scandals  which  marked  the 
continuance  of  slavery  under  the  British  flag.  They  have  been  specially 
active  and  useful  in  opening  homes  and  refuges  for  rescued  slaves,  in 
establishing  schools  for  thc'r  instruction,  and  in  some  instances  training 
them  to  be  teachers  and  pr^.tchers  of  the  Gospel  in  connection  with 
mission  work.^     On  January  i,  1889,  the  number  of  runaway  slaves 


1  Bishop  Maples  relates  the  following  incident  in  one  of  his  letters  from  Zanzibar, 
in  1877,  concerning  a  rescued  slave  who  had  been  trained  by  the  mission  :  "  One  of 
our  boys,  John  Briton,  was  taken  (as  a  slave)  in  the  following  manner :  He  was 
being  hurried  ofl  to  Arabia  in  a  dhow,  when  a  man-of-war  appeared.  The  Arabs 
popped  John  in  a  bag  end  hauled  him  up  into  the  rigging.  '  What  '$  that  ?  '  sftidthe 
officer  of  Her  Majesty's  ship  as  he  boarded  the  dhow.     '  A  bag  of  grain,'  answered 


i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


387 


harbored  at  mission  stations  within  the  territory  of  the  British  East 
Africa  Company  on  the  mainland  was  found  to  be  1422.* 

The  services  of  the  Swedish  missionaries  on  the  mainland  to  the 
north  of  Mombasa  are  highly  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Donald  Mackenzie  in 
his  report  upon  the  slave-trade  on  the  East  Coast.'-'  The  Church 
Missionary  Society's  Home  for  Rescued  Slaves  at  Frere  Town,  Mom- 
basa Harbor,  is  doing  an  effective  and  admirable  service.  It  is  prac- 
tically a  continuation  of  the  African  Slave  Asylum  formerly  (1860-74) 
located  at  Nasik,  India,  where  those  faithful  attendants  of  Livingstone, 
who  bore  his  body  to  the  sea-coast,  were  trained.'  The  United  Metho- 
dist Free  Church  stations,  north  of  Mombasa,  are  centres  of  humane 
activity.  German  missionaries  are  also  conducting  work  in  German 
East  Africa,  with  Dar-es-Salaam  as  a  basis.  At  Kisserawe,  an  inland 
station,  provision  is  made  for  the  reception  of  liberated  slaves. 

The  Universities'  Mission  to  Central  Africa  is  throughout  its  ter- 
ritorial extent  one  of  the  most  effective  agencies  in  East  Africa  for 
the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade.     It  has  nobly 
carried  out  the  desires  of  its  founder.  Dr.  Living-    The  redemption  of  the 

,  ■,,   e        t     ,  ■        .  old  ilave-market  at 

Stone,  by  receiving  all  freed  slaves  committed  to  zamibar. 

its  care,  some  of  whom  have  been  trained  for  the 
native  ministry.     Its  station  Magila,  in  Usambara,  on  the  mainland,  is 
a  modern  city  of  refuge  for  the  victims  of  the  traffic.     Christian  villages 
are  springing  up  on  the  main  routes  into  the  interior  as  far  as  Lake 

tlie  Arab.  But  the  officer  progged  it  with  his  sword.  This  went  very  much  against 
the  grain,  for  John  squealed  out,  and  thus  was  rescued."—"  Chauncy  Maples,  Bishop 
of  Likoma,"  pp.  87,  88. 

In  a  letter  of  the  previous  year,  before  he  himself  became  a  bishop,  he  speaks  of 
the  arrival  at  Zanzibar  of  fifty  slaves  captured  by  a  British  ship  off  Pemba,  and  states 
that  "  the  Bishop  means  to  take  them  all  in,  and  has  just  gone  off  to  Dr.  Kirk  to 
negotiate  mattsrs.  The  greater  number  are  adults  ;  they  will  go,  of  course,  to  the 
shamba  at  Mhweni  [a  station  of  the  Universities'  Mission  south  of  Zanzibar].  The 
rest,  if  possible,  we  shall  take  in  here  [Kiungani]."— /(5»V/.,  p.  60. 

»  Letter  of  George  S.  Mackenzie  on  "  Slavery  in  East  Africa,"  in  The  Mail 
(London  Times),  April  13,  1896. 

*  The  Anti- Slavery  Reporter,  December,  1895,  p.  213. 

»  It  was  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  that  the 
Parliamentary  Committee  A  1871  was  appointed,  which  in  the  following  year  re- 
sulted in  Sir  Bartle  Frere's  mission  to  Zanzibar.  "  In  1874  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Price, 
formerly  in  charge  of  the  Asylum  for  Rescued  Slaves  at  Nasik,  Western  India,  was 
sent  out ;  some  two  hundred  African  Christians  fro-^  the  freed  slaves  entrusted  to  his 
care  were  collected  as  the  nucleus  of  an  industrial  colony ;  land  was  purchased  for  a 
settlement,  which  was  named  Frere  Town,  in  honour  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere ;  and  some 
five  hundred  rescued  slaves  were,  in  1875,  received  from  Her  Majesty's  cruisers,  and 
housed,  fed,  instructed,  and  ltd  to  work  for  their  living.' —  '  Report  of  the  Church 
Miuionary  Society,  1894,"  p.  35. 


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288  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Nyassa,  and  are  homes  of  freedom  for  the  hunted  African.    A  succession 
of  noble  bishops- Mackenzie,  Tozer,  Steere,  Smythies,  Hornby,  Ma- 
ples, Richardson,  and  Hine-have  all  been  men  of  energy,  power,  and 
humane  enthusiasm.     Bishop  Tozer  gave  special  attention  to  the  train- 
ing of  rescued  slave  children,  and  it  was  in  Bishop  Steere's  day  that 
the  dramatic  master-stroke  of  purchasing  the  property  adjacent  to  the 
old  slave-market  at  Zanzibar,  and  devoting  it,  with  the  market  itself,  to 
mission  uses,  was  carried  out.     In  the  fine  and  stately  Christ  Church 
Cathedral,  erected  near  the  site  of  the  old  slave-market,  three  native 
Africans  were  ordained  to   the  ministry   on   September  22,   1895. 
Within  the  sound  of  their  voices  as  they  took  the  vows  of  consecra- 
tion were  a  hospital,  a  school,  a  home  for  released  slaves,  and  the 
Universities'  Mission  houses  at  Zanzibar.     What  a  redemption  is  this 
of  the  place  where  slaves  by  the  hundreds  were  once  publicly  offered 
for  sale  in  one  of  the  most  notorious  slave-shambles  of  the  world! 
In  these  latter  days  it  has  been  a  stirring  sight,  now  and  then,  to  wit- 
ness the  arrival  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Universities*  Mission  of  a 
newly  rescued  cargo  of  slaves  brought  in  by  a  British  man-of-war,  and 
to  see  them  kindly  and  sympathetically  cared  for  as  free  human  bemgs 
upon  the  very  spot  where  hundreds  of  thousands  in  the  past  have  been 
bought  and  sold.     That  old  slave-market  at  Zanzibar  has  becom-?  one 
of  the  brightest  spots  on  the  East  Coast  of  Africa.     The  illustration  of 
Christ  Church  Cathedral  will  give  the  reader  a  glimpse  of  the  noble 
uses  to  which  Christianity  has  now  consecrated  this  former  scene  of 
heathen  suffering  and  shame.i    An  Industrial  Mission,  supported  by  the 
Societv  of  Friends  in  England,  has  been  lately  established  on  the  Island 
of  Pemba,  with  the  special  object  of  providing  employment  for  slaves 
who  have  been  able  to  secure  their  freedom  under  the  recent  decree  of 
partial  abolition.2     The  abrogation,  in  1897,  of  the  status  of  slavery 
was  a  welcome  move,  but  not  soon  enough  to  prevent  long  and  weary 
years  of  misery,  which  mark  the  slave  annals  of  Zanzibar  and  the  East 
Coast.     In  spite  of  some  defects  in  the  workings  of  the  decree,  it  never- 

1  "  Look  at  the  two  pictures-rows  of  men,  women,  and  children,  sitting  and 
standing,  and  salesmen  and  purchasers  passing  in  and  out  among  them,  exammmg 
them,  handling  them,  chaffering  over  them,  bandying  their  filthy  )okes  about  them, 
and  worse  scenes  still  going  on  in  all  the  huts  around :  and  then,  In  the  same  spot, 
see  instead  the  priest  and  preacher,  the  teacher,  the  physician,  the  nurse,  the  ch.l- 
dren  crowding  to  be  taught,  the  grown  men  coming  to  hear  of  God  and  Christ,  the 
sick  and  suffering  finding  help  and  health.  Look  at  these  two  pictures  wd  is  it  not 
a  blessed  and  a  glorious  change,  and  is  it  not  worth  a  life  to  have  made  it  posiible? 
—Rowley,  "  Twenty  Years  in  Central  Africa,"  p.  227. 

»  Tht  Anti-Slavtry  ReporUr,  November-December,  1897,  p.  248- 


%     \ 


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l!MSiiit;il  :it  M..mb.isa,  I■'-,l^t  Afr'na. 
il.  M.  S.i 

vl'ortraits  l.y  y.Wmn  A  Fry. 

Christ     Church  rathiilr.il,  Zaij/i;Mi. 
(C.  M.  C.  A.) 

Thi;    Chri'^iian    RiDi.Mi'i  ion-   of   an    African    Si,a\  i  -  \I  irk  i 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


980 


theless  txists,  and  so  forms  the  basis  for  persevering  efforts  on  the  part 
of  missionaries  and  philanthropists  to  secure  in  the  near  future  such  an 
effectual  execution  of  it  as  shall  make  the  abolishment  of  slavery  through- 
out the  suhanate  a  reality,  and,  moreover,  insure  its  benefits  to  those 
who  are  as  yet  virtually  helpless  even  to  take  advantage  of  their  freedom. 
Before  turning  from  Zanzibar  to  the  southward  we  may  note  the 
establishment,  by  the  Arabian  Mission  of  the  Reformed  Church  of 
America,  of  a  school  at  Muscat  for  liberated  slaves 
who  have  been  rescued  in  transit  from  the  East  The  ■ehooi  for  rescued 
Coast  to  the  Arabian  and  Persian  markets.  The  •'■*•  ""y*  '*  »«»»<:•«• 
Rev.  P.  J.  Zwemer,  since  deceased,  reported,  late 
in  1896,  the  capture  of  some  slave-dhows  in  the  vicinity  of  Muscat, 
containing  in  all  forty-four  slaves.  On  application  bv  Mr.  Zwemer  to 
the  British  Consul  at  Muscat,  eighteen  of  these,  all  under  twelve  years 
of  age,  were  handed  over  to  him  to  train.  The  enterprise  has  been 
generously  sustained  by  friends  in  America,  and  it  is  gratifying  to 
reflect  that  on  the  distant  and  somewhat  inaccessible  coast  of  south- 
eastern Arabia  American  missionaries  are  on  the  watch  for  rescued 
slaves  whom  they  may  redeem  unto  God  and  His  salvation.*  The 
Rev.  James  Cantine.of  the  Reformed  Church  Mission,  sends  word  quite 
recently  (July,  1898)  that  the  limit  of  eighteen  should  by  no  means  be 
insisted  upon,  as  is  apparently  the  case  by  direction  of  the  Board  in 
America.  He  announces  the  arrival,  just  previous  to  the  date  of  his 
letter,  of  a  captured  slave-dhow,  and  continues  as  follows :  "  By  express 
direction  of  the  Board  I  was  prevented  from  making  further  application 
for  any  boys  of  suitable  age  who  might  be  on  board.  Our  lada  were 
quite  excited  at  the  news,  and  wished  me  to  go  at  once  to  the  English 
"onsulate  to  see  about  getting  others.    On  my  telling  them  that  I  had  no 

1  In  a  recent  eport  by  Mr.  Zwemer  we  find  the  following  paragraph :  "Although 
the  experiment  is  not  yet  completed,  the  results  so  far  are  most  gratifying,  and  the 
boys  are  making  excellent  progress  in  morals  and  education.  Immediately  after  they 
came  they  were  put  into  manual  training,  making  basktt  sewing,  and  housework. 
Ignorant  of  any  language  but  Swahili,  it  was  thought  best  that  they  be  taught  Eng- 
lish  first.  After  primary  instruction  by  means  of  charts,  they  showed  enough  mental 
capacity  to  warrant  the  expense  of  a  teacher;  and  S.  M.  David,  an  Indian  Christian, 
formerly  a  teacher  in  the  Church  Missionary  Society  Freed-Slave  School  at  Nasik, 
India,  came  to  Muscat  on  September  15,  1896.  All  the  boys  have  since  made  such 
rapid  progress  in  the  '  three  R's  '  that  they  are  almost  prepared  for  the  first  Indian 
standard.  The  health  of  the  lads  lias  been  good,  with  one  exception,  and  they  are 
apparently  perfectly  at  home  in  the  Muscat  climate.  Instruction  is  given  them 
from  the  Bible  and  by  means  of  a  simple  catechism ;  their  moral  sense  is  growing, 
and  many  of  them  begin  to  realize  the  opportunity  of  the  new  life  open  before  them. 
— "  Tbe  Arabian  Mission;  Statement  Number  Nine,  1897,"  p.  8. 


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390 


c//A/sr//tAr  M/ss/oxs  aa'd  social  progress 


extra  food,  they  said  that  each  would  share  his  plate  of  rice  with  a  new 
boy.  The  question  of  the  extension  of  the  Freed-Slave  School  ia  lome- 
thing  for  its  friends  and  'iupporters  in  America  to  decide  for  themselves. 
The  opportunity  is  before  us!"* 

In  Uganda,  where  the  mission  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 

founded  in  1877,  is  now  (1898)  just  reaching  its  majority,  there  is  a 

record  of  almost  exclusively  missionary  influence 

Mackay  and  hi*  ■■■oci-  working  with  swift  and  marvelous   precision  for 

ate*  ttach  the  righta       ,         ,     ,.  ,  .        ,     ,         i  •       . 

of  humanity  In  Uganda,  the  abolishment  not  only  of  the  slave-trade,  but, 
as  we  shall  see  in  the  next  section,  of  domestic  sla- 
very as  well.  Dr.  Blaikie.in  his  "  Life  of  David  Livingstone,"  recognizes 
the  services  of  a  countryman  of  Livingstone,  Mr.  A.  M.  Mackay,  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  in  securing  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade 
by  King  Mtesa,  as  having  "  contributed  mainly  to  this  remarkable 
result."  It  was  Mackay  who  appealed  to  the  rulers  of  Uganda  to 
respect  the  rights  of  humanity  and  honor  human  beings  as  too  pre- 
( ions  to  be  bought  and  sold  like  cattle,  and  so  successfully  did  he  plead 
tliat  a  strong  sentiment  was  created  against  the  traffic  in  slaves.  How 
different  is  this  from  the  old  way,  of  which  the  late  Mr.  Pilkington 
wrote :  "  No  protest  was  heard  when  women  and  children  were  sold 
into  the  hopeless  misery  of  Arab  slavery."  What  this  check  to  the 
>  iavc-trade  in  that  section  of  Africa  means  for  the  relief  of  suffering  and 
the  deliverance  from  appalling  cruelties  may  be  discovered  by  reading 
the  chapter  entitled  "  On  the  Banks  of  Lake  Tanganyika,"  in  Johnston's 
"  Missionary  Landscapes  in  the  Dark  Continent."  The  ac<:ounts  there 
given  of  the  horrors  of  slave-raiding  in  that  region  for  the  supply  of 
slaves  to  the  Waganda  people,  among  whom  Mackay  labored,  are 
deeply  harrowing  to  humane  sensibilities.  The  country  around  the 
northern  end  of  the  lake,  according  to  the  reports  of  Emin  Pasha,  was 
the  hunting-ground  of  the  slave-raiders,  who  disposed  of  their  victims 
among  the  Waganda.-     In  tlie  abolition  of  domestic  slavery  in  Uganda, 

'  "The  Arabian  Mission:  Field  Report  Number  Twenty-six,"  pp.  J,  6.  Cf. 
also  for  confirmation  of  the  existence  of  the  slave-trade  at  the  present  time  on  the 
Arabian  coast,  The  Anti-Slavery  Reporter,  July-August,  1898,  pp.  190-192. 

2  The  following  extract  is  from  the  pen  of  Emin  Pasha:  "  I  have  heard  and 
seen  terrible  things  on  my  way  to  the  Albert  Lake.  I  followed  the  traces  of  one  of 
these  robbers,  Omar  Ben  Chalid,  for  six  days,  and  counted  fifty-one  fresh  corpses 
emaciated  to  the  bone.  Thirty-nine  of  the  victims  had  their  skulls  shattered.  Twelve 
hundred  persons  are  said  to  have  been  dragged  to  Mengo,  there  being  twenty  to 
thirty  negioes  of  either  sex  bound  to  each  chain.  Twenty-seven,  including  four 
M'omen,  who  had  succeeded  in  escaping,  met  us,  half  dend  with  hunger."— Quoted 
by  Mr,  Johnston,  p.  258. 

The  whole  chapter  by  Mr.  Johnston  should  be  read,  as  a  revelation  of  the  atrocities 
of  the  slave-trade  around  Lake  Tanganyika  as  late  as  1890, 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


991 


1 

I 

.4 


a  fact  which  we  shall  mention  more  particularly  in  the  next  section,  it 
was  the  Protestant  chiefs,  inspired  by  missionary  instruction,  who  made 
for  themselves  in  this  respect  a  record  which  shall  "  be  told  for  a 
memorial "  of  them,  wherever  the  history  of  missions  is  written. 

Let  us  now  pass  southward,  noting  en  rontf  the  pioneer  services  of 
the  missionaries  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  at  the  southern  end 
of  Lake  Tanganyika,  and  recognizing  with  grati-   ... 

°      '.  #r...  Storlti  of  rticua  from 

tude  and  admiration  the  efiorts  of  the  Moravian     tha  miMion  station* 
and  German  missionaries  who  are  located  north  of         •""*•' "'  '-■'•• 
Lake  Nyassa,  almost  in  touch  with  their  English  '  "'' 

brethren  of  the  London  Society.  In  RrioJical  Accounts,  the  maga- 
zine of  the  Moravians,  is  related  an  incident,  giving  the  details  of  the 
rescue,  in  1894,  by  Baron  von  Eltz,  an  official  of  the  German  Pro- 
tectorate, of  two  hundred  and  eleven  slaves  who  were  being  trans, 
ported  to  the  coast.  A  large  number  of  these  were  delivered  to  the 
Moravian  missionaries  at  Rungwe,  and  the  remainder  consigned  to 
the  more  southerly  stations  of  the  Moravian  and  Berlin  Societies,  at  the 
northern  end  of  Lake  Nyassa.'  Still  farther  to  the  southeast  we  find 
at  Newala,  an  interior  station  of  the  Universities'  Mission,  that  some  of 
the  powerful  chiefs  in  that  vicinity  refrain  altogether  from  tiie  slave- 
trade.  "  Perhaps  the  greatest  testimony  to  our  influence,"  wrote  the  Rev. 
R.  F.  Acland-Hood,  in  a  communication  concerning  work  at  Newala, 
"  is  the  fact  that  the  most  important  chiefs  are  not  slave-traders."  •"' 

Our  entrance  into  the  British  Central  Africa  Protectorate  brings 
us  to  the  scene  of  recent  important  transactions,  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
have  permanently  arrested  the  slave-traffic  within 
the  borders  of  Nyassaland.  In  these  stirring  The  gaiunt  eruaade  in 
events  gallant  British  officials  have  directed  the  Britiah  Central  Africa, 
military  operations,  and  Scotch  and  English  mis- 
sionaries have  coopi  'ited  by  rendering  humane  services  to  hundreds  of 
slaves  who  were  rescued  in  circumstances  of  extreme  misery  and  suffer- 
ing. This  martial  campaign,  under  t'.ie  direction  of  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston, 
Her  Majesty's  Commissioner  in  British  Central  Africa,  has  extended 
over  a  number  of  years,  and  one  afti;r  another  of  the  ruthless  slave- 
raiders  has  been  brought  low,  and  his  nefarious  business  ruined.' 
Makanjira,  Kawinga,  Zarafi,  Mwazungu,  Mwasi,  Mponda,  Tambala, 
Mpemba,  and  especially  the  cruel  Mlozi,  have  all  been  crushed.  In 
this  valiant  and  repeated  appeal  to  arms  Commissioner  Johnston  has 

>  Ptriodieal  Accounts  Relating  to  Aforavian  Missions,  June,  1894,  p.  308. 
*  African  Tidings,  December,  1 896,  p.  139. 

»  The  '    .sionary  Review  of  the  World,  October,  1895,  pp.  754-756,  and  June, 
1896,  pp.  440,  441. 


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203  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOC/.tl   /•ROUAUSS 

been  the  leading  ipirit,  and  in  some  instance*  hat  borne  a  personal  part. 
Associated  with  him  at  different  times  were  his  fellow-officers,  Deputy 
Commissioner  Sharpe,  Lieutenant  Alston,  Captain  Stewart,  Captain 
Cavcndiih,  Lieutenants  Coape-Smith  and  de  Htrries  Smith,  Dr.  Poole, 
Major  Edwards,  Sergeant- Major  Devoy,  and  Mr.  Swann.  In  the 
campaign  against  MIozi,  in  1895,  a  prominent  part  was  borne  volun- 
tarily by  some  English  officers  who  were  enjoying  a  hoiiday  excursion 
in  Central  Africa,  when  the  duty  of  suhjugating  MIozi  suddenly 
arose.  The  expedition  resulted  in  his  capture  and  execution  '  That 
autumn  campaign  of  189s  is  memorable  in  this  respect,  tiiat  it  stcurtd 
the  release  from  the  clutches  of  the  slavc-raiders  of  1 184  slaves.  Of 
this  number  596  were  set  free  by  the  overthrow  of  MIozi.  A  further 
result  is  the  apparent  death-blow  to  the  slave-traffic  around  Lake  Nyassa. 
We  say  apparent,  for  it  is  likely  that  secret  eiTorts  may  be  made  to  re- 
new it,  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  be  unimportant  and  futile. 2 

In  conjunction  with  these  interesting  events  just  mentioned,  we 
should  note  carefully  the  valuable  help  and  cooperation  of  missionaries 
in  supplementing  and  rounding  out  the  benefits  which  flow  from 
the  energetic  action  of  the  British  authorities.*      The  Universities' 

«  White  Book,  "Africa,  No.  4,  1896."  See  also  TAt  AntiSlavery  Repertrr, 
March-April,  1896,  pp.  73-75  ;  and  Johnston,  "  British  Central  Africa,"  pp.  130-14*, 
>  The  Rev.  Alexander  Dewar,  a  Free  Church  of  Scotland  mis-^io'-iry, '  i  teJ  on 
the  Stevenson  Road,  northwest  of  Lake  Nyassa,  in  a  recent  report  gives  the  particu- 
lars  of  one  of  these  unsuccessful  attempts.  His  words  are  interesting  also  as  giving 
a  glimpse  of  the  part  taken  by  missionaries  in  supplementing  and  completing  the  re. 
suits  of  this  war  upon  the  slave-trade.  He  writes  as  follows ;  "  In  our  last  report 
mention  was  made  of  Mloji's  fall  and  our  satisfaction.  Contrary,  however,  to 
general  belief,  slaving  has  since  then  been  going  on  all  around  us,  several  caravans 
having  been  attacked.  Last  week,  while  the  resident  ofTicial  of  the  British  South 
Africa  Company  was  superintending  work  ne.-ir  Fife,  an  Arab  caravan  was  reported. 
He  at  once  set  out,  capturing  one  of  rhe  Arab  leaders -the  other  committing  suicide 
to  escape  capture— and  securing  a  large  lot  of  ivory.  Fifty-sevt-n  slaves  were  also 
rescued,  and  these,  so  f.ir  as  their  homes  can  be  ascertained,  arc  being  returned.  Sonic 
were  so  small  that  they  could  give  no  account  of  themselves.  Six  of  these  poor 
little  things  have  been  handed  over  to  our  care,  while  others  are  to  go  to  the  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society's  station  at  Fwambo.  We  are  trusting  some  friends  will  be 
so  interested  in  these  little  ones  as  to  support  them."—  The  Fret  Church  of  Scotland 
Atofithly,  March,  1 897,  p.  63. 

'  "  The  great  agents  in  stopping  the  slave-trade  must  be  the  European  Govern- 
ments who  have  taken  the  country  under  their  protection,  but  the  work  of  Christian 
missions  necessarily  tends  in  the  same  direction,  though  by  different  methods,  namely, 
by  converting  the  raiding  tribes  to  Christianity.  Hence  the  great  importance  of  our 
mission  to  the  Yaos."-Rev.  J.  S.  Wimbash  (U.  M.  C.  A.),  Kota  Kota,  Briti>h 
Central  Africa. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


293 


MUC.C.]  into  agreements  with  "PP'^-n^t'-f  """t"/ 

victories. 


Mission  to  Central  Africa  has  in  its  Constitution  a  clause  indicating  as 
one  of  its  chief  objects  ''  the  ultimate  extinction  of  the  slave-trade.'' ' 
In  the  furtherance  of  this  object  its  first  Bishop,  xh«  v«iue  of  mii 
Charles  Frederick  Mack' P'ie,  during  his  journey  up        cooperation  in 
the  Zambesi  Valle 

the  various  chiefs, ;  ocuring  frora  the.  i  pledges  that 
tliey  would  refrain  .oni  the  trarBc  -n  slaves.^  These  initial  efforts  are 
typical  of  the  spirii  vuh  wh'ch  Scotch  and  English  missionaries  have 
assumed  their  part  in  this  humane  crusade.  The  lamented  Dr.  William 
Affleck  Scott,  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  Mission  at  Blantyre,  contracted 
Ills  fatal  illness  during  the  expedition  against  the  slave-raiding  chief 
Kawinga,  which  he  accompanied  in  the  capacity  of  a  medical  man  to 
look  after  the  wounded.^  The  Rev.  Robert  Laws,  M.D.,  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  who  is  now  in  the  service  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  Mission  in  Livingstonia,  in  summing  up  the  results  of  twenty- 
one  years'  work  in  that  region,  among  other  things  refers  to  the  won- 
derful progress  towards  the  overthrow  of  the  slave-trade.*  Enough  has 
been  said  to  show  that,  while  it  is  not  the  function  of  missionaries  to 
draw  the  sword  upon  the  slave-trader,  it  is  their  high  privilege  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  extirpation  of  this  cruel  business  by  personal  labors  in 
the  sphere  of  benevolent  and  humanitarian  ministry.  A  permanent 
efficacy  and  a  higher  usefulness  are  thus  given  to  military  victories,  since 
the  additional  moral  and  social  benefit  of  a  hopeful  future  is  secured 
to  the  freedmen  through  a  religious  and  industrial  training. 

In  the  Upper  Zambesi  V^ alley,  among  the  wild  Barotsi,  is  the  scene 
of  the  memorable  labors  of  the  Rev.  Fran9ois  Coillard  and  his  noble 


1  Anderson-Morshead,  "  The  History  of  the  Universities'  Mission  to  Central 
Africa,"  p.  434. 

»  The  Bishop's  treaty  with  the  Manganja  at  Magomero,  south  of  Lake  Shirwa, 
in  August,  1861,  is  as  follows:  "  (i)  That  all  the  chiefs  then  present  should  sol- 
emnly  promise,  on  behalf  of  themselves  and  people,  that  they  would  not  buy  or  sell 
men,  women,  and  children  again.  (2)  That  all  captives  found  with  the  Ajawa 
should  be  perfectly  free ;  that  no  chief  or  person  should  claim  any  one  of  them,  but 
that  they  should  have  the  liberty  to  go  to  whom  they  liked  and  where  they  liked. 
(3)  That  all  the  chiefs  present  promise  that  they  will  unite  to  punish  any  chief  who 
sells  his  own  people  or  the  people  of  any  other  chief,  and  that  each  chief  will  punish 
any  of  his  own  people  found  guilty  of  buying  or  selling  men,  women,  and  children 
for  slaves.  (4)  That  if  any  Portuguese  or  other  foreign  slave-dealers  came  into  the 
land,  they  would  drive  them  away,  or  at  once  let  us  know  of  their  presence."— 
Rowley,  "  Twenty  Years  in  Central  Africa,"  p.  57. 

'   The  Church  of  Scotland  Mission  Record,  June,  1895,  p.  189. 

*  "  Report  on  Foreign  Missions  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland, 
1897,"  pp.  20,  21. 


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204 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


wife,  the  latter  now  buried  at  Sefula,  in  the  heart  of  South  Central 

Africa.      In  that  deep  isolation,  amid  the  depressing  savagery  and 

„^      .       ^   ,        cruelty  of  those  untamed  tribes,  M.  Coillard,  as 

The  triumph  of  ... 

mi»»ionary  influence  often  appears  m  his  recently  published  volume,  was 
in  the  Upper  Zambesi  continually  Struggling  to  place  some  restrictions 
upon  the  barbarities  of  the  slave-traffic.  His  suc- 
cess with  Lewanika  was  a  triumph  of  personal  influence  and  patient  effort. 
"  There  is  progress,"  he  writes,  "  with  regard  to  slaver)-.  Recently  a 
man  led  an  ox  to  his  chief.  '  I  want  a  man,'  he  said.  '  Will  you  get 
me  one?  Here  is  the  price.'  '  Why,  where  do  you  come  from,'  an- 
swered the  chief,  'that  you  think  you  can  still  buy  slaves  under 
Lewanika? '"1  In  his  concluding  chapter  he  writes  concerning  the 
Barotsi  kingdom :  "  Unquestionably,  a  great  change  is  already  operat- 
ing in  the  country,  which  will  become  more  marked  as  time  goes  on : 
the  interdiction  of  spirituous  drinks,  of  the  slave-trade,  and  of  the  bar- 
barous practice  of  '  smelling  out  sorcerers ' ;  increasing  security  of  prop- 
erty ;  and  respect  for  human  life,— tokens  of  civilisation,  of  a  real  need 
felt  by  ihe  Barotsi  themselves  for  developing  their  industrial  tastes  and 
talents :  these,  in  various  domains,  are  victories  which  the  Gospel  has 
won  over  paganism.  '  And  it  is  not  only  the  good  we  may  have  done,' 
as  a  friend  wrc'e  to  me;  'it  is  th-^  evil— and  who  could  fathom  it?— 
that  the  presence  of  the  Gospel  has  hindered.' "  -  The  venerable 
author's  description  of  an  incident  he  once  witnessed,  when  a  large 
number  of  prisoners,  mostly  women  and  children  taken  in  war,  were  to 
be  distributed  among  the  Barotsi  victors,  is  of  graphic  and  painful  inter- 
est as  illustrating  that  process  of  social  vivisection  which  is  so  often  a 
commonplace  feature  of  African  warfare.^ 

To  the  southward  of  these  scenes  we  reach  the  moral  oasis  of 
Khama's  countrj-.  This  Christian  ruler  has  forbidden  by  law  all  pur- 
chase of  slaves  in  his  territory.*  A  native  African  convert,  it  may 
safely  be  said,  uniformly  ceases  to  be  a  friend  to  the  slave-trade.  It 
was  a  Christian  queen  in  the  neighboring  Island  of  Madagascar,  who, 
in  1877,  "decreed  that  all  slaves  imported  into  the  island  should  be  set 
free."  This  was  the  final  blow  to  the  slave-trade  in  her  realm.  A 
treaty  made  with  Great  Britain  for  its  suppression  had  existed  for  half 
a  century,  but  it  had  never  been  sufficiently  effective  to  abolish  the 
illicit  traffic. 

»  Coillard,  "  On  the  Threshold  of  Centra]  Africa,"  p.  401. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  639.  S  Ibid.,  pp.  471-473. 

*  Hepbarn,  "  Twenty  Years  in  Khama's  Country,"  p.  laa. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


293 


In  the  ^arly  history  of  the  extreme  southern  section  of  the  Con- 
tinent, now  under  British  rule,  we  find  mention  of  the  slave-trade  as 
tolerated  by  the  Dutch  and  French  colonists.* 
The  extension  of  British  authority  resulted  in  its    The  struc^ie  in  South 
practical  extinction,  although   it   has   continued  Africa, 

until  quite  recently  among  the  native  tribes. 
South  African  traditions,  however,  are  not  wholly  in  sympathy  with 
the  views  which  prevail  upon  this  subject  in  Great  Britain,  and  there 
seems  to  exist  at  the  present  time  a  certain  laxity  in  the  social  customs 
of  Cape  Colony  concerning  the  treatment  of  native  prisoners  of  war. 
The  establishment  of  a  system  of  "  indenture,"  which  is  fully  acknow- 
ledged by  the  public  press  of  South  Africa,  and  pronounced  by  dignified 
British  journals  to  bear  a  perilous  resemblance  to  the  proceedings  of  a 
slave-market,  has  elicited  a  loud  murmur  of  dissatisfaction  in  Great 
Britain.2  The  missionaries  of  all  societies  in  South  Africa  have  not 
failed  for  nearly  a  century  to  do  what  they  could  to  prevent  the  slave- 
trade  wherever  it  has  been  found,  and  to  lessen  its  bnitalities  among 
the  native  tribes. 

If  we  now  advance  up  the  West  Coast  of  the  Continent,  we  meet 
with  the  Rhenish  and  Finnish  missions  in  German  Southwest  Ai     i, 
and  that  of  the  American  Board,  which  has  its  prin- 
cipal station  at  Kamundongo  (formerly  Bihe),  in        ''•"  Phiufrican 
Angola.     The  missionaries  of  all  these  societies  do     '  '"*°ts'work.*"  ""'' 
what  they  can  to  mitigate  the  barbarities  of  inter- 
tribal slave-raids.     Upon  the  high  table-lands  of  Portuguese  territory 
inland  from  Benguella,  we  find  Mr.  Heli  Chatelain  and  his  colleagues, 

1  Wilmot,  "  The  Expansion  of  South  Africa,"  pp.  34,  92. 

»  The  Spectator  of  October  30,  1897,  p.  583,  contains  the  following  paragraph : 
"  The  Cafe  Times  of  September  29th  gives  an  account  of  a  visit  to  the  slave-market 
opened  by  the  Cape  Government  in  Cape  Town,  at  which  the  B^chuana  prisoners  are 
disposed  of  to  farmers  who  desire  indentured  labourers.  Probably  the  account  is  a 
little  written  up,  but  the  ugly  fact  remains  that  a  specially  odious  form  of  slavery— 
the  sale  of  prisoners  of  war— has  come  into  existence.  Rut  though  we  feel  bound 
to  make  a  protest  in  regard  to  the  reaction  against  the  English  view  of  slavery  which 
is  taking  place  in  South  Africa,  we  do  not  say  that  the  home  Government  is  to  blame. 
We  gave  responsible  government  to  the  Colony,  and  we  cannot  take  back  that  gift. 
What  we  can  do  is  to  insist  that  the  Imperial  forces  shall  never  be  used  to  put  down 
native  risings  without  a  strict  agreement  that  the  Colonial  Office  is  to  participate  in 
the  final  settlement.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  we  must  look  to  the  growth  of 
a  healthier  sentiment  in  the  Colony  itself.  We  are  glad  to  see  signs  of  this  in  the 
meeting  of  the  South  African  Political  League,  presided  over  by  Mr.  Rose-Innes, 
an  account  of  which  is  given  in  a  telegram  in  Thursday's  Times.     It  is  evident  that 


llfl 
11 


m41 


396  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

representing  the  newly  organized  Philafrican  Liberators'  Leagu  ,  nav- 
ing  its  headquarters  in  New  York  City.  They  are  just  inaugurating  at 
Caconda  a  work  specially  designed  to  offset  the  evils  of  the  internal 
slave-traffic,  by  establishing  colonies  where  freed  and  rescued  slaves 
may  be  educated  and  trained  for  future  usefulness.  The  object  of  the 
organization,  as  stated  in  its  published  documents,  is:  "  (i)  To  gather 
and  diffuse  authentic  information  regarding  slavery  and  the  slave-trade 
in  Africa.  ( 2 )  To  found,  in  Africa,  refuges  and  settlements  of  liberated 
slaves,  in  accordance  with  the  Brussels  Act."  Mr.  Chatelain,  with  a 
party  of  helpers,  sailed  from  New  York  in  July,  1897,  to  open  his  first 
station.  His  own  leadership  is  regarded  by  all  who  know  him  as  a 
guarantee  of  wisdom,  prudence,  and  untiring  effort  towards  the  con- 
summation of  these  humane  plans. 

Still  northward,  in  the  Congo  Free  State,  we  come  upon  regions 
which  have  long  been  smitten  and  decimated  by  Arab  slave-traders,  who 
have  entered  the  country  of  the  Upper  Congo 
Military  expeditioDi     from  Zanzibar  and  the  East  Coast.'     The  expe- 
"thT'^ngo'vX''"  dition  under  Commandant  Dhanis,  of  which  Dr. 
S.  L.  Hinde  was  a  prominent  member,  was  organ- 
ized by  the  authorities  of  the  Congo  Free  State  in  1892,  and  resulted 
in  the  fall  of  the  Congo  Arabs  in  1894.     It  has  been  instrumental  in 
dealing  a  death-blow  to  that  brutal  system  of  plunder  and  rapine  which 
has  so  long  desolated  the  eastern  portions  of  the  Congo  Free  State. 
The  operations  of  the  campaign  culminated  in  the  fall  of  Nyangwe 
and  Kasongo,  important  cities  of  the  Manyema  country,  lying  directly 
west  of  the  northern  end  of  Lake  Tanganyika.^     The  credit  of  this 
achievement  belongs  to  the  Congo  Government,  and  to  the  energetic 
leader  of  the  expedition,  although  the  methods  of  the  Congo  authori- 
ties may  not  in  all  cases  be  worthy  of  commendation.     Missionaries  are 
now  located  at  many  points  in  the  Congo  Valley.     Some  of  them  are 
occupying  isolated  stations,  where  they  are  in  constant  contact  with  the 
awful  and  disgusting  features  of  mid-African  savagery.     Their  reports, 
and  the  simple  narrations  of  their  heroic  and  patient  work,  often  reveal 
the  steady  influence  they  are  exerting  for  the  overthrow  of  the  hidden 
abominations  of  intertribal  warfare,  human  sacrifice,  cannibalism,  and 

Mr.  Rose-Innes  and  his  friends  are  bestirring  themselves  in  the  matter  of  the  treat- 
ment of  the  natives.  That  is  a  hopeful  sign.  One  meeting  of  protest  at  Cape  Town 
is  worth  a  hundred  at  Exeter  Hall." 

Cf.  also  Tht  Christian,  October  7,  1897,  and  The  Aborigines'  Friend,  Marcli, 
1898,  p.  309. 

»  Hinde,  "  The  Fall  of  the  Congo  Arabs,"  pp.  1-3.       »  Ibid.,  pp.  169-19J 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


297 


slave-raiding.  Many  prisoners  of  war  who  would  be  destined  for  the 
slave-shambles  have  thus  been  rescued  (sometimes  by  ransom),  and  as 
free  men  and  women  have  been  trained  and  educated.  It  is  stated 
in  a  recent  report  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 
States  that  in  one  of  its  stations  there  were  some  seventy  or  eighty  natives 
who  had  been  ransomed.*  Of  the  wisdom  of  thus  ransoming  slaves 
we  are  not  prepared  to  pronounce  an  opinion.  There  seems,  however, 
to  be  the  possibility  of  thereby  giving  some  covert  encouragement  to 
the  slave-trade,  which  is  liable  to  be  misinterpreted  by  the  natives  them- 
selves. We  note  that  M.  Coillard,  of  the  French  Mission  on  the  Upper 
Zambesi,  was  strenuously  opposed  to  this  plan.^  Dr.  Snyder,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission,  writes,  under  date  of  June  15,  1894,  that  the 
Congo  officials  were  often  ready  to  hand  over  to  the  missionaries  freed 
slaves,  and  thus  relieve  the  question  of  all  complications.  He  and  his 
good  wife,  who  has  since  died,  reported  that  they  had  just  received  from 
the  State  a  present  of  "  ten  boys,  two  women,  and  eight  girls,"  making, 
with  others  under  their  charge,  forty-four  liberated  slave  children  in 
their  care  at  that  time.^ 

As  we  move  northward  and  follow  the  coast  line  of  the  African  Con- 
tinent as  it  curves  towards  the  west,  we  come  to  the  scenes  of  the  colonial 
slave-trade  which  terrorized  and   decimated  the 
West  Coast  for  two  centuries  and  a  half.     There    ^  brighter  day  on  the 
is  perhaps  no  other  part  of  the  world  which  in  Weit  Coast, 

modern  times  has  been  the  scene  of  such  inhuman 
cruelties  as  those  which  were  perpetrated  by  unworthy  representatives  of 
Christian  nations  engaged,  under  the  impulse  of  greed  and  selfishness, 

1  "  Foreign  Mission  Report  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  1894," 
p.  xxxvii. 

2  Coillard,  "  On  the  Threshold  of  Central  Africa,"  pp.  152,  153. 

Dr.  Cust,  in  his  "  Notes  on  Missionary  Subjects,"  has  commented  upon  the 
subject  of  purchasing  slaves,  even  with  tlie  best  of  motives,  in  the  following  terms : 
"  There  is  another  practice  which  missionary  societies  should  not  tolerate.  I  have 
seen  notices  of  its  existence  in  missions  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  I  allude  to 
the  purchase  of  Negro  boys  and  girls  by  missionaries  in  Afric.-i,  for  the  best  and 
holiest  purposes,  and  yet  the  practice  has  in  it  the  germs  of  much  evil.  As  long  as 
there  is  a  demand  for  children,  the  kidnaj-pers  and  slavc-dealers  will  fmd  it  worth 
their  while  to  continue  the  trade.  It  matters  not  to  them  whether  the  little  girl  is 
to  find  her  way  into  the  h.irem  or  into  the  mission  school ;  it  is  a  question  of  so 
m.iny  dollars  as  purchase-money.  It  is  not  likely  that  parents  would  sell  their  own 
children,  or  tribesmen  children  of  their  own  tril)e ;  the  children  must  be  stolen, 
and  then  sold.  The  Roman  Catholics  make  this  part  of  their  system,  and  glory  iii 
it."— Part  I.,  p.  12. 

Tht  Missionary,  November,  1894,  pp.  483,  484. 


I 


il 

if 


n  f 


208  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

in  this  scandalous  traffic.^  Thanks  to  Christianity,  this  disgrace  has 
ceased  to  rest  upon  civilization,  and  a  day  of  liberty  is  surely  dawning 
for  the  whole  West  Coast. 

The  Royal  Niger  Company,  representing  British  authority,  has  now 
the  command  of  the  vast  Hinterland  lying  inland  from  the  Niger  Coast 
Protectorate,  east  of  the  Niger  River  and  north  of  the  Binue,  and 
bounded  on  the  north  by  an  irregular  line  extending  westward  from 
Lake  Chad  to  a  point  about  midway  between  Sokoto  and  Say.     To 
this  extensive  region  the  name  of  Nigeria  has  been  given.     According 
to  the  Anglo-French  Agreement  of  1 898,  a  large  section  of  Borgu,  west 
of  the  Niger,  bounded  on  the  west  by  a  line  extending  from  a  point  ten 
miles  north  of  Ilo  (a  lown  on  the  Middle  Niger  just  above  Gomba)  to 
the  eastern  boundary  of  Dahomey,  is  also  secured  to  British  control. 
The  successful  expeditions  of  the  Royal  Niger  Company,  in  1897,  for 
the  deliverance  of  Nupe  from  Fulah  oppression,  and  the  capture  of 
Ilcrin  and  Bida,  have  established  the  Company's  supremacy  in  all  that 
region.     Nupe  and  Eastern  Borgu  may  now  be  regarded  as  British 
territory.     A  steady  struggle  on  the  part  of  the  Government  with  the 
slave-trade,  so  awfully  prevalent  in  Sokoto  and  the  populous  Hausa 
States,  has  marked  the  extension  of  British  administration. 

The  brilliant  outcome  of  the  expeditions  of  1897  against  the  slave- 
raiding  Fulah  tribes  was  the  proclamation  by  Sir  George  T.  Goldie, 
Governor  of  the  Royal  Niger  Company,  of  the 
A  veritable  Jubilee  in     abolition  of  the  legal  Status  of  slavery  throughout 
the  Niger  H/nfericnrf.   jtg  territories,  the  decree  to  take  effect  June  19, 
1897,  upon  the  occasion  of  Her  Majesty's  Dia- 
mond Jubilee.2     The   object   of   this   campaign  was  chiefly  for  the 
extirpation  of  the  slave-traffic  in  the  protected  Native  States,  and  the 

1  Du  Bose,  "  Memoirs  of  Rev.  John  Leighton  Wilson,  D.D.,"  pp.  212-215. 

a  Sir  George  T.  Goldie's  proclamation  is  an  historic  document,  as  admirable  in 
its  terseness  and  force  as  it  is  striking  in  its  far-reaching  significance.  It  is  as 
follows : 

"  Whereas,  a  Resolution  of  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Niger  Company,  Chartered 
and  Limited,  dated  the  Twenty-seventh  day  of  October,  One  Thousand  Eight  Hun- 
dred  and  Ninety-six,  authorises  me  to  act  in  all  respects  on  their  behalf  during  my 
visit  to  the  Niger  Territories,  and  that  all  acts  do:  -.  by  me  in  respect  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Niger  Territories  and  the  affairs  of  the  Company  during  that  visit  shall 
be  taken  to  be  done  by  the  Council ; 

"  1  HKREBV  DECREE  on  behalf  of  the  Council  as  follows: 

"  I.  On  and  after  the  Nineteenth  day  of  June,  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred 
and  Ninety-seven,  the  legal  status  of  Slavery  shall  stand  abolished  throughout  the 
portion  of  the  possession  of  Her  Gracious  Majesty  the  Queen  of  Great 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SSIOXS 


299 


1 


result  is  characterized  in  an  editorial  of  Tfie  7}'w«  (London),  February 
1 1,  1897,  in  the  following  terms:  "  It  seems  not  unreasonable  to  hope 
that  in  the  downfall  of  Nup^  the  slave-trade  has  suffered  the  severest 
check  it  has  undergone  since  the  abolition  of  the  traffic  between  this 
same  West  Coast  and  America."  Dr.  Harford-Battersby,  in  a  letter 
to  The  Mail ol  February  12,  1897,  expresses  his  opinion  that  "a  great 
blow  has  been  struck  at  the  internal  African  slave-trade,"  and  fuither 
on  in  his  communication  makes  the  following  statement:  "  It  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  earliest  approaches  which  were  made  to  Nup6  by 
our  countrymen  were  largely  through  the  aid  of  missionaries.  To 
Bishop  Crowther's  tact  in  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  native  rulers  is 
due  much  of  the  success  that  has  followed  English  trade  with  the 
Upper  Niger,  and  the  present  offers  an  almost  unrivalled  opportunity 
for  missionary  work  in  this  part  of  Africa."  What  these  victories  and 
this  blow  at  the  slave-trade,  in  fact  at  slavery  itself,  mean  for  the  future 
of  those  vast  regions  is  incalculable.'  It  is  not  only  a  powerful  guar- 
antee looking  to  peace  and  prosperity,  but  by  one  quick  stroke  it  is  a 
release  from  untold  suffering  and  sorrow,  which  would  inevitably  attend 
the  continuance  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade  in  those  populous  regions 
at  the  ha.nds  of  fiendish  native  despots. 

The  coast  colonies  I'or  a  generation  or  more  have  been  in  large 
measure  freed  from  the  traffic,  and  in  the  achievement  of  this  result 
missionary  cooperation  is  entitled  to  a  conspicuous 
share  of  the  honor  which  jusdy  belongs  to  the    The  redemption  of  the 
efforts  of  the  British  Government.     With  the  ad-         «"••*  eo'oniet. 
vent  of  the  first  agents  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  in  Sierra  Leone,  as   early  as  1  So  v,  the  campaign  against  the 
slave-trade    was    commenced.     The    missionaries    landed    in    Sierra 
Leone,  but  soon  after  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pongo  River,  about 

BRirAi.N  AND  Ireland  and  E.mpress  of  India,  which  is  known  as  the  Niger 
Territories. 

"  2.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  Niger  Territories  is  charged  with  the  interpre- 
tation of  this  Decree  by  decisions  given  from  time  to  lime. 

"  Given  under  my  hand,  this  Sixth  day  of  March, 
"  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred  and  Ninety-seven, 
"  George  Taubman  Goi.die, 

••  Governor. 
"  Asaba,  Niger  Territories,  March  6   1897." 

Quoted  in  The  Anti-Slavery  Reporier,  April-June,  1897,  pp.  138,  139. 

1  "  Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1897,"  p.  64.  Cf.  also  Vande- 
leur,  "  Campaigning  on  the  Upper  Nile  and  Niger,"  especially  the  Introduction 
by  Sir  George  T.  Goldie. 


i 


r 


i 


I 


300 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIOS'S  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  to  the  northwest,  in  what  is  at  present 
French  territory.  "  It  is  impossible,"  writes  Bishop  Ingham,  "not  to 
admire  the  splendid  courage  with  which  those  first  missionaries  entered 
upon,  and  persevered  in,  a  death-grapple  not  only  with  the  climate,  but 
with  European  and  African  slave-dealers." »  Little  is  known  among 
Christian  people  as  to  what  has  been  actually  going  on  during  the 
larger  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  the  continuance  of  the  slave- 
trade,  on  the  African  West  Coast,  in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  break  it  up. 
We  have  upon  record,  however,  the  testimony  of  missionaries  who  have 
been  there  on  the  ground  fighting  these  awful  atrocities,  and  who 
describe  scenes  of  which  they  themselves  were  eye-witnesses.  Extracts 
from  the  writings  of  two  of  them  will  suffice.-' 

It  was  the  Rev.  John  Leighton  Wilson,  D.D.,  an  American  Pres- 
byterian missionary  to  the  West  Coast,  who,  in  1850,  when  the  British 
How  an  appeal  to  the  (Government  was  preparing  to  withdraw  its  African 
British  Government  by  squadron  from  Service,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
""ke^lu 'quTdrono"^  d^'^g  little  for  the  extirpation  of  the  slave-trade, 
the  Weat  Coait.  prepared  a  strong  and  able  appeal  urging  that  this 
should  not  be  done,  and  giving  good  reasons  for  the  request.  The 
document  was  put  into  the  hands  of  Lord  Palmerston,  who  directed 
that  an  edition  of  ten  thousand  copies  should  be  printed  and  distributed 

^  Ingham,  "  Sierra  Leone  After  a  Hundred  Years,"  p.  195. 

2  Tlie  Rev.  C.  F.  Frey,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  wrote  from  Sierra 
Leone,  in  1845,  as  follows  :  "  In  going  from  Kissy  to  Free  Town,  I  met  with  a  scene 
of  misery  which  made  such  an  impression  on  my  mind  that  I  shall  scarcely  ever 
forget  it.  About  four  hundred  rescued  Africans,  old  and  young,  of  both  sexes,  were 
proceeding  towards  Kissy  hospital.  They  had  just  come  from  a  slave-vessel,  and 
were  in  a  most  heartrending  condition.  Some,  not  being  able  to  walk,  were  carried, 
while  others  supported  themselves  by  sticks,  looking,  from  the  starvation  they  had 
endured  on  board,  more  like  human  skeletons  than  living  beings.  I  have  since  been 
informed  that,  within  a  short  time,  about  a  hundred  of  them  died.  What  crime  had 
these  poor  creatures  committed  ihat  they  should  be  thus  treated?  It  was  '  the  love 
of  money,'  truly  designated  '  the  root  of  all  evil,'  in  those  who  are  called  civilised 
people,  which  had  brought  them  into  this  condition.  ...  If  Christians  in  Europe 
could  have  but  one  peep  into  such  misery,  they  would  more  frequently  pray  for  the 
propagation  of  the  Gospel  of  Peace  in  Africa."  — Ingham,  "  Sierra  Leone  After  a 
Hundred  Years,"  p.  245. 

The  Rev.  John  Leighton  Wilson,  D.D.,  an  American  Presbyterian  missionary 
to  the  West  Coast,  wrote  from  Gaboon,  in  1842,  as  follows:  "  I  have  visited  all  the 
settlements  on  the  river  in  this  immediate  vicinity.  There  was  one  scene  in  these 
excursions  which  particularly  affected  my  heart.  I  refer  to  the  interior  of  a  slave- 
factory  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  I  cannot  enter  into  details,  but,  suffice  it 
to  say,  my  curiosity  will  never  prompt  me  again  to  visit  a  similar  scene  of  human 
degradation.     Think  of  four  hundred  and  thirty  naked  savages  of  both  sexes,  of  all 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


301 


the  lUve-trada  in  the 
valley  of  the  Niger. 


in  influential  quarters.  It  was  this  monograph  which  quieted  all  f)[>po- 
sition  in  England  to  the  retention  of  the  squadron  at  its  post  of  duty. 
Lengthy  extracts  from  the  memorandum  are  given  in  the  Life  of  Dr. 
Wilson.1 

The  recent  successes  of  the  Royal  Niger  Company  in  subduing 
Nup6  by  the  capture  of  Bida,  its  capital,  Ladi,  one  of  its  strongholds, 
and  Ilorin,  should  remind  us  that  the  earliest  Brit-  .j^.i^j^ug  of  early 
ish  explorations  of  the  Niger  Valley  were  parti-  miieionary effort*  upon 
cipated  in  by  missionary  agents,  among  them  Mr. 
Schon  and  Mr.  (afterwards  Bishop)  Crowther, 
who  in  the  year  1841  were  thus  engaged,  and  that  the  destruction  of 
the  slave-trade  was  one  of  the  prominent  objects  then  in  view.  Again, 
in  1854,  in  another  of  these  exploring  journeys  Mr.  Crowther  selected 
the  sites  of  mission  stations  at  Onitsha,  Gbebe  (Igbegbe),  and  Rabba. 
In  1857  he  once  more  participated  in  a  more  formal  expedition 
under  the  auspices  of  the  British  Admiralty,  for  the  further  exploration 
of  the  Niger  and  its  tributaries.  The  steamer  "  Dayspring,"  which 
carried  the  expedition,  was  wrecked  by  striking  a  rock  not  far  from 
Rabba.  Mr.  Crowther  on  this  account  spent  a  considerable  time  in 
tli.1t  region,  making  a  careful  study  of  the  whole  situation.  Subse- 
(luently  he  was  appointed  Bishop,  representing  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  in  its  Niger  Coast  Mission,  and  had  an  influential  part  in  the 
j^'reat  conflict  with  tho  slave-raiders  who  were  desolating  those  regions.* 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  early  history  of  this  Mr.  Crow- 
ther, afterwards  Bishop  of  the  Niger.  He  was  a  young  Yoruban  lad, 
who,  in  1 82 1,  was  seized  by  a  Mohammedan  slave-raider,  but  after- 
wards rescued,    nd,  in  1825,  was  baptized  by  missionaries,  under  the 

ages,  sizes,  and  conditions,  brought  together  in  one  enclosure,  chained  together  in 
gangs  of  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty,  and  all  compelled  to  sleep  on  the  same  platform, 
eat  out  of  the  same  tub,  and  in  almost  every  respect  live  like  so  many  swine.  More 
than  this,  on  the  middle  passage  they  must  have  quarters  still  more  circumscribed, 
and  live  on  much  scantier  fare.  God  rei^s,  and  this  vile  traffic  in  human  beings 
must  cometoanend."— DuBose, "  Memoirs  of  Rev.  John  Leighton  Wilson,  D.D.," 
pp.  217,  218. 

1  At  the  conclusion  of  these  extracts,  the  biographer  comments  as  follows : 
"  Thus  ends  this  great  State  paper.  His  voice  was  heard  by  the  English  nation,  and 
her  people  accepted  the  three  conclusions :  First,  That  the  squadron  had  done  much 
for  Africa;  Second,  That  it  must  be  continued  till  its  work  was  accomplished;  and, 
Third,  That  the  fastest  ships  be  placed  in  this  service  till  the  slave-trade  come  to  an 
eud."— /.J.V/.,  pp.  318-226.     See  also  Wilson's  "  Western  Africa,"  pp.  430-451. 

*  Cf.  article  on  "  Nupi— Past  Endeavors  and  Present  Opportunities,"  by  C.  F. 
Harford-Battersby,  M.D,,  in  The  Church  Missionary  Intelhgencer,  March,  1897, 
pp.  169-173. 


^'i  e 


II 


302 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


ll 


I 


name  of  Samuel  Crowther.     He  was  educated  in  the  Fourah  Bay  Col- 
lege of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  was  ordained  to  the  ministry 
in  1841.     After  a  time  he  unexpectedly  met  his 

Bishop  Crowthar— the  ...  .        ,  .  .  . 

•tory  of  hit  ratcu*  aod   mother  and  also  a  brother  and  two  sisters  near  the 
■ubtiqutnt  Mrvicea  to   scene  of  his  early  .seizure,  and  was  the  means  of 

tli9  cttUM  of  frMdoni* 

their  conversion.  In  1857  he  founded  a  mission  in 
the  Niger  country,  and  in  1864  he  was  appointed  Bishop  of  the  Niger. 
During  must  of  his  life,  amid  many  perils  and  hardships,  he  opposed 
most  earnestly  the  slave-trade,  and  every  other  cruel  heathen  custom 
of  the  Niger  region.  His  wife,  like  himself,  was  rescued  from  a  slave- 
ship,  and  was  blessed  with  a  Christian  training  by  the  missionaries. 
Their  six  children,  all  Christians,  are  living  useful  lives,  three  of  them 
actively  engaged  in  mission  work.  To  one  of  them.  Archdeacon 
Crowther,  the  author  is  indebted  for  valuable  documents  from  his 
father's  papers,  and  for  information  kindly  furnished  concerning 
missions  in  the  Niger  Coast  Protectorate.*  A  memorial  church  at  Cline 
Town  commemorates  Bishop  Crowther's  life.  The  Rev.  H.  W. 
Tucker,  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  speaks  of  the 
mission  which  Bishop  Crowther  founded,  as  follows:  "  By  this  mission 
the  horrible  slave-truut,  has  received  a  great  check;  the  practice  of 
human  sacrifice  is  at  an  end  within  the  Niger  country,  and  the  neigh- 
boring chiefs  find  themselves  unable  to  procure  slaves  to  be  immolated 
by  their  priests.  Instead  of  the  indolence  which  accompanies  the  easy 
gains  of  the  slave-dealer,  commerce,  with  its  attendant  activity,  has 
been  introduced  far  up  the  rivers."  ^ 

Mr.  William  A.  B.  Johnson,  with  others,  was  sent  out  to  Sierra 
Leone  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  1816,  and  was  busy  during 
the  seven  years  of  his  life  there  in  receiving  the  rescued  slaves  as  they 
were  landed  by  cruisers,  and  bringing  them  under  Christian  instruction, 
by  which  they  were  trained  for  usefulness.*  In  1822  there  were  two 
thousand  freed  slaves  in  the  mission  schools,  and  thousands  more  were 
reached  by  Christian  teaching.  The  Governor  of  the  colony,  in  com- 
menting upon  the  fact,  remarked :  "  The  hand  of  Heaven  is  on  this." 
Dr.  Cust,  in  one  of  his  papers,  entitled  "  A  Word  to  those  who  do  not 
Recognize  the  Divinely  Imposed  Duty  of  Evangelization,"  refers  to 
missionary  intervention  in  arresting  slave-dealing,  and  in  the  course  of 
his  remarks  says :  "  What  but  strong  Christian  influence  would  have 

*  Cf.  Creegan,  "Great  Missionaries  of  the  Church,"  pp.   125-140;  Pierson, 
"  The  Miracles  of  Missions,"  Second  Series,  pp.  107-126. 
"  Tucker,  "  Under  His  Banner,"  p.  188. 
'  Pierson,  "  Seven  Years  in  Sierra  Leone  "  (Life  of  W.  A.  B,  JohBSOn). 


ti; 


} 


1 

^^S' 

-r4 


^  1  'I 


I 


Mission  Workship,  <  hristiansborK.  '""I'l  I  ".i^t,  Afriia. 
Home  for  Krei-il  Slaves,  Kuinas-i. 

A     HoMI      FiiR     Si  AVIS     ON      I  HK     Ciol.l)     COASI. 

d'-a.  M,  S.  1 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  AirssiOXS 


•08 


I  lone  it,  and  who  but  miMJonaries  would  have  supplied  the  fact* 
about  slave-dealing  and  been  foremost  in  the  conflict?  The  Chmtian 
mission  i.  the  complement  of  the  Slavery-Abolition  Society :  the  two 
make  one  power.  Sierra  Leone  and  Frere  Town  are  proofs  of 
this." » 

It  was  Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton's  appeal  in  his  boolc  on  "  The  Slave- 
Trade  and  its  Remedy  "  which  incited  the  United  Presbyterian  mis- 
sionaries in  Jamaica,  soon  after  the  abolition  of 

,      ,,,        ,     ,.  ....  lllMlon«ri«tof«n 

slavery  m  the  West  Indies,  to  establish  a  mission   locictui  h«it*nin(  th« 
ill  Old  Calabar,  in  the  eastern  section  of  what  is  hour  of  full  dtiiv.r«ne« 

.        »,.  ,-.  ,.  r..i        »»  In  Woit  Africa. 

now  the  Niger  Coast  Protectorate.  The  Rev. 
H.  M.  Watldell,  their  first  missionary,  went  out  in  response  to  an  appeal 
from  King  Eyamba  and  several  of  his  chiefs,  who  offered  protection 
and  a  gift  of  ground  at  Duke  Town.  In  1844  the  Presbytery  of 
Jamaica  responded  to  this  call  of  opportunity,  and  since  then  the  Old 
Calabar  Mission,  which  was  adopted  in  1847  by  the  United  Presby. 
terian  Church  of  Scotland,  has  borne  its  full  part  in  the  struggle  with 
the  slave-traffic,  especially  in  that  section  where  it  has  been  locatcil.-' 
The  missionaries  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  of  England,  early 
in  the  second  decade  of  the  century,  began  their  work  at  Sierra  Leone, 
and  have  also  taken  an  active  part  in  this  prolonged  conflict.  One  of 
their  finest  mission  churches  in  West  Africa,  the  Buxton  Chapel  at 
Freetown,  is  named  after  Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton.  The  captured  slave- 
vessels  were  many  of  them  stranded  in  what  is  known  as  "  Destruction 
Bay,"  not  far  from  that  city,  where  they  either  went  to  pieces  or  were 
broken  up.  Much  of  the  timber  of  these  doomed  ships  has  been  ap- 
propriated to  missionary  uses.  The  mission  house  of  the  Wesleyans 
at  Freetown,  and  also  the  neighboring  Zion  Chapel,  were  erected  of 
material  obtained  from  this  source.  Missionaries  of  the  Weslevan, 
Basel,  and  North  German  (Bremen)  Societies,  in  the  Cold  Coast 
Colony,  Togoland,  and  Cameroons,  have  contributed  by  sympathy  and 
active  cooperation,  wherever  the  opportunity  has  presented,  towards 
hastening  the  doom  of  the  West  Coast  slave-trade.  In  some  of  their 
churches  many  of  the  converts  were  formerly  brought  as  slaves  from 
the  interior,  and  escaped  to  the  shelter  of  British  protection,  where 
they  found  Christian  instruction  through  the  good  missionaries  of  the 
Basel  Society.' 

»  Cust,  "  The  Gospel  Message,"  p.  166. 

*  Dickie,  "  The  Story  of  the  Mission  in  Old  Calabar,"  pp.  9-13. 
»  "The  Basel  Evangelical  Mission  on  the  Gold  Coast,  from  1828  to  1893," 
p.  19. 


304 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Vi\ 


\  i 


t    « 


iHP 


Far  oflf  the  West  Coast  is  the  Island  of  St.  Helena,  which  in  1847 
became  a  part  of  the  Diocese  of  Cape  Town,  and  since  1859  has  been 
made  the  seat  of  its  own  bishopric.  It  has  often 
A  good  work  for  reicued  happened  that  slaves  from  captured  slavers  have 
■lavM  tn  St.  Helena,  been  landed  on  this  island,  where  they  were  cared 
for  by  the  bishop  and  his  colleagues  with  great 
kindness.  So  numerous  were  the  slaves  thus  discharged  at  St.  Helena 
that  the  British  Government  provided  an  institution  e.specially  for  their 
reception.  Upon  one  occasion,  when  the  Bishop  of  Cape  Town  was 
making  a  visit  to  the  island,  a  slave-ship  containing  five  hundred  and 
sixty  souls  arrived  there.  At  the  same  time  there  were  already  three 
hundred  in  the  hospital  on  the  shore.  Bishop  Claughton,  the  first 
bishop  of  the  See  of  St.  Helena,  was  accustomed  to  labor  with  loving 
assiduity  in  these  seasons  of  emergency.  His  successors,  and  others  of 
the  English  clergy,  have  worthily  followed  in  his  footsteps.  The  slaves 
are  not  only  freed,  but  employment  guarded  by  proper  restrictions  is 
found  for  them  in  the  West  Indies.  During  some  years  as  many  as 
three  thousand  Negroes  were  landed  at  St.  Helena,  and  after  a  period 
of  a  few  months,  spent  under  Christian  instruction,  a  settlement  was 
arranged  for  them  in  some  way  which  secured  to  them  their  freedom. 
For  those  who  were  permanently  invalided,  or  suffered  from  blindness, 
as  many  of  theivi  did,  provision  was  made  upon  the  island,  where  they 
were  the  recipients  of  patient  and  careful  Christian  ministrations.* 

Along  the  northern  coast  of  the  Continent  the  slave-trade  has 

existed  for  centuries.     A  grim  feature  of  the  cruel  piracy  of  the  Bar- 

bary  corsairs  was  the  seizure  of  human  beings, 

Efforts  old  and  new  on    many  of  them  Christian  natives  of  Europe,  who 

behalf  of  freedom  in  ,  ...  ,.^.  i     -u 

North  Africa.  were  Captured  upon  piratical  expeditions  of  pillage 

to  the  Mediterranean  islands  of  Sicily,  Sardinia, 
and  Corsica,  and  even  to  the  coasts  of  Italy  and  Spain,  and  thence  trans- 
ported into  captivity  in  the  Barbary  States.  During  the  latter  part  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  through  the  two  succeeding  centuries,  even 
to  the  nineteenth,  these  deeds  of  rapine  continued.  Among  those  who 
were  thus  captured,  in  1575,  was  Cervantes,  the  well-known  author  of 
"  Don  Quixote,"  who  spent  some  years  in  slavery  in  Algiers.^  Much 
attention  was  devoted  by  several  ecclesiastics  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  rescuing  and  extending  of  compas- 
sionate ministrations  to  these  bondmen,  and  to  others  enslaved  by 

1  Tucker,  "  Under  His  Banner,"  pp.  152-157- 

»  Ingram,  "  History  of  Slavery,"  pp.  274-278-     Cf.  also  "The  Barbary  Cor- 
sairs,"  by  S.  Lane-Poole,  in  The  Story  of  the  Nations  Series. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


30r. 


Moors  and  Saracens.  For  this  purpose  also  two  permanent  religious 
orders  were  founded,  namely,  the  order  of  Trinitarians,  and  that  of  Notre 
Dame  de  la  Merci.i  Although  the  influence  of  Christian  Powers  has 
been  directed,  through  diplomatic  pressure  and  by  the  aid  of  various 
treaties,  to  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade  in  the  North  African 
countries,  the  efforts  have  not  proved  wholly  efficacious,  except  in  the 
cases  of  Egypt  and  Algiers.  In  Morocco,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli  there 
are  still  slave-markets  (Vol.  I.,  pp.  139,  140).  Even  at  the  present 
time  the  traffic  in  Morocco  is  open  and  scandalous.  Under  date  of 
November,  1897,  details  of  slave-sales  at  Safi,  on  the  west  coast  of  the 
sultanate,  were  published  in  the  newspapers  of  Tangier.^  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  a  committee  of  European  ladies  residing  in  Tangier 
has  addressed  appeals  upon  the  subject  to  the  philanthropic  societies 
in  Europe  organized  and  conducted  by  women.  T7ie  Anti- Slaver)' 
Reporter  (November-December,  1897,  p.  262),  in  commenting  upon 
this  fact,  remarks:  "This  is  as  it  should  be,  for  the  public  indignities 
offered  to  women  in  the  slave-markets  of  Morocco  are  a  scandal  of 
which  all  Europe  ought  to  be  ashamed." 

The  British  Government,  in  1895,  established  a  convention  with 
Egypt  for  the  suppression  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade,  signed  on  be- 
half of  Great  Britain  by  Lord  Cromer.'     The 
execution   of   this   definitive  agreement  will  no  Misiionary  codperwion 

,       ,  ,       T-  with  British  oilicials 

doubt  prove  a  permanent  check  to  the  Egyptian  i„  Egypt  and  Turkey, 
slave-trade,  and  the  advance  of  British  rule  into 
the  Soudan  will  result,  let  us  hope,  in  an  effective  blow  at  the  inner 
sources  of  slave-trading  conspiracy.  The  Home  at  Cairo  for  the  pro- 
tection and  care  of  liberated  female  slaves  has  secured  an  annual  grant 
of  three  hundred  pounds  from  the  Egyptian  Government.  The  mis- 
sionaries in  Egypt  have  been  in  full  sympathy  with  the  efforts  of  the 
British  Government  to  put  a  stop  to  the  slave-traffic  of  the  Nile  Valley, 
and  have  cooperated  with  the  authorities  as  they  have  had  opportunity. 
In  the  Turkish  Empire  they  have  not  failed  to  give  information  to 
European  officials,  especially  British  consuls,  whenever  they  were 
aware  of  the  secret  transactions  of  traders  who  were  bringing  slaves 
to  Mohammedai   cities  with  a  view  to  selling  them. 

There  are  two  regions  which  still  remain  to  be  mentioned,  where 
missionary  influence  has  been  helpful  in  opposition  to  this  evil.     One 


f 


:»l 


m 


1  Ingram,  "  History  of  Slavery,"  pp.  278-281. 

*  The  Anti-Slavery  Reporter,  November-December,  1897,  pp.  261,  263. 

*  The  text  of  the  Convention  is  given  in  full  in  Th*  Anti-Slavtry  Reporter  for 
December,  1895,  pp.  269-272. 


306 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


*    1 


is  the  Pacific  Islands,  and  the  other  the  East  Indies.  What  has 
been  known  as  the  Kanaka  traffic  (the  significance  of  which  is  a  trade 
in  human  beings,  since  the  word  "  Kanaka "  in 
The  battle  with  the  Hawaiian  means  "man")  was  for  nearly  thirty 
Kanaka  traffic.  years,  or  from  its  inauguration  in  1 863  to  its  sup- 
posed "  regulation  "  in  1886,  and  its  suppression  in 
1 890,  a  most  atrocious  species  of  the  kidnapping  slave-trade.  By  it  na- 
tives were  torn  from  home  and  kindred,  and  transported  to  virtual  sla- 
very in  Queensland  and  elsewhere  throughout  Australasia.*  It  was  in 
retaliation  for  this  kidnapping  of  natives  that  Bishop  Patteson  was 
killed  at  Nukapu,  one  of  the  Santa  Cruz  Islands ;  but  the  martyrdom 
of  this  noble  missionary  bishop  served  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
people  of  England  to  the  horrors  of  the  Kanaka  traffic,  and  through  the 
trenchant  exposure  of  its  shameful  features  by  Melanesian  missionaries 
the  subsequent  eflorts  of  the  British  Government  to  regulate  and  control 
it  were  prompted.'-'  The  provision  which  the  authorities  had  made  to 
place  proper  restrictions  upon  the  traffic  proved  to  be  ineffective  in  many 
important  respects,  and  a  proposed  revival  of  it,  in  1 89 1 ,  for  the  supply 
of  the  Queensland  labor-market,  called  out  the  strenuous  efforts  of 
missionaries  to  check  it.  Its  evils  seem  indisputable,  although,  in  the 
opinion  of  some  who  are  entitled  to  speak  concerning  the  matter,  the 
condition  of  the  natives,  when  once  located  on  the  Queensland  planta- 
tions, is  not  without  beneficent  features.  A  strong  statement,  based 
upon  nearly  a  lifelong  observation,  by  the  Rev.  George  Brown,  D.D., 
of  Sydney,  Secretary  of  the  Methodist  Missionary  Society,  clearly 
points  out,  however,  that  to  the  native  islanders  the  traffic  is  a  bur- 
densome and  cruel  evil,  which  should  not  be  tolerated.^ 

The  situation  in  1892  was  such  as  to  impel  the  venerable  Dr.  Paton, 

whose  life  has  been  given  to  missionary  service  in  the  New  Hebrides, 

to  enter  upon  a  campaign  of  public  protest  and 

The  appeal  of  Dr.  Paton  personal  effort  to  secure  the  effectual  suppression 

to  the  British  and        f        ,       ^  .  .  ,     _,  ,,•,,. 

American  Governments,  by  the  British  Government  of  this  shocking  evil, 
which,  on  the  authority  of  a  Royal  Commission, 
had  been  already  condemned  in  severe  terms,  as  "  one  long  record 
of  deceit,  cruel  treachery,  deliberate  kidnapping,  and  cold-blooded 
murder."  For  this  purpose  he  visited  England,  where  he  was  able  to 
convince  people  of  influence  that  there  was  an  urgent  call  for  ac- 
tion, and,  at  the  request  of  Lord  Ripon,  Secretary  of  State  for  the 

*  Michelsen,  "  Cannibals  Won  for  Christ,"  pp.  153-156. 

*  Montgomery,  "  The  Light  of  Melanesia,"  pp.  157-159,  249. 

*  Work  and  Worktrs  in  the  Mission  Field,  November,  1892,  pp.  323-325. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SS/OA'S 


307 


Colonies,  in  December,  1893,  he  drew  up  a  memorandum  presenting  a 
valuable  and  powerful  summary  statement  of  the  whole  question,  in 
which  the  objectionable  aspects  of  the  case  were  presented  with  great 
force  and  unsparing  plainness.^  Dr.  Paton  had  previously  to  this 
visited  America  in  the  autumn  of  1892,  as  a  delegate  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Council  at  Toronto,  and  while  in  the  United  States  he 
sought  to  influence  the  Government  to  cooperate  with  other  na- 
tions in  the  suppression  of  the  traffic  in  slaves  and  rum  in  the  New 
Hebrides.  So  effective  have  been  the  steps  taken  by  the  British 
Government,  largely,  no  doubt,  as  the  result  of  Dr.  Paton's  energetic 
appeals,  that  at  the  present  time  the  system  may  be  regarded  as  freed 
from  its  most  objectionable  features,  and  likely  to  cease  altogether,  as 
under  present  regulations  neither  safe  nor  profitable.  Coolies  from 
India  have  in  most  instances  been  substituted  for  the  Kanakas,  and, 
owing  to  the  supervision  of  the  British  Government  in  India,  this  plan  is 

1  CopioDS  extracts  from  this  memorandum  are  prin  1  in  Tie  Atiti-Sla-'ery  Re- 
porter, January,  1894,  pp.  24-31,  and  The  Christian,  January  l8,  1894.  The  con- 
cluding paragraphs  are  as  follows:  "  I  do  solemnly  assure  your  Lordship,  without 
bias  or  prejudice  against  planters,  agents,  or  crews,  that  xht  system  of  securing  Poly- 
nesian labour  for  the  Queensland  plantations  is  a  relic  of  the  bygone  and  barbarous 
past,  a  veiled  system  of  slavery,  robbed  to  some  extent  of  if;  bloodshed  and  murder, 
but  carried  on  by  deceit  and  allurement,  by  bribes  and  plausibility,  through  the 
agency  of  trained  native  decoys,  under  cover  of  armed  boats,  crews,  captains,  and 
Government  agents,  in  regions  far  from  the  vigilant  eye  of  the  law  (save  for  the 
occasional  visit,  hailed  with  joy  by  missionaries  and  natives,  of  one  of  Her  Majesty's 
ships  with  its  noble  officers,  men  of  honour,  of  kindly  heart  and  noble  be.aring,  who 
so  impartially  seek  to  administer  justice  and  uphold  the  dignity  of  the  Queen  and 
Nation).  I  repeat  that,  while  humanity  is  at  a  very  low  ebb  among  the  South  Sea 
labour-collectors,  while  such  deeds  can  be  perpetrated  on  speechless  natives  whose 
dark  bodies  alone  are  desired  for  the  energy  that  can  be  forced  out  of  them  to  fill  the 
coffers  of  white  men,  while  the  planters  own  labour-ships  and  hire  captains  and 
crews,  and  while  a  handsome  premium  is  given  all  round  for  Kanaka  recruits,  the 
traffic  is  bound  to  be  a  curse  and  a  degradation  to  all  engaged  in  it,  a  disgrace  to 
the  colony  that  legalises  it,  and  a  blot  on  the  fair  name  of  Britain. 

"  I  entreat  your  Lordship  to  hear  the  heartfelt  plea  of  an  old  man,  burdened  with 
the  evils  that  are  heaped  upon  his  defenceless  people,  just  as  they  are  emerging  from 
the  long,  black  midnight  of  gross  heathenism  and  cannibalism.  Oh,  that  my  beloved 
country  would  rise  and  stamp  out  this  foul  system  ;  that  the  land  of  Wilberforce  and 
Clarkson,  that  the  Britain  whose  blood  and  treasure  have  been  freely  sacrificed  to 
enable  her  to  assume  the  proud  position  of  a  nation  that  never  owns  a  slave,  a  nation 
that  prefers  death  to  bondage— that  my  own  loved  home-land  would  add  to  its  roll 
of  glorious  triumphs  this :  that  her  children  must  nut  and  shall  not  disgrace  her 
name  by  playing  with  a  deadly  system  that  has  led  in  the  past,  and  must  in  the  future 
lead,  to  abuse,  bloodshed,  and  God-dishonouring  cruelty,  little  short  of  that  accursed 
thing  called  slavery!" 


•  1-. 
!  -11 


'i-.i\ 


11 


i 


308 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


subject  to  proper  restrictions  and  regulations.  Where  European  pro- 
tectorates have  been  established  in  the  South  Seas,  especially  by  Great 
Britain,  the  "  blackbird  traffic,"  as  the  slave-trade  is  called,  has  been  put 
under  a  rigorous  ban,  as  in  the  Fiji  and  Gilbert  Islands.*  In  the 
Eastern  Archipelago,  especially  under  Spanish  and  Portuguese  rule,  the 
slave-trade  has  existed  for  centuries.  Wherever  the  Dutch  have  ruled 
it  has  been  extirpated,  and  here  and  there  even  slavery  itself  has  been 
abolished,  but  the  liberation  has  come  very  slowly,  and  in  certain 
localities  only  within  a  few  years.  The  influence  of  the  Dutch  mis- 
sionaries may  be  said  to  have  contributed  to  this  result.^ 

Thus,  wherever  Christian  missions  in  their  onward  movement  have 
crossed  the  blood-stained  trail  of  the  slave-trade,  they  have  sought  to 
mitigate  its  horrors,  and  have  always  gladly  and  often  most  efhciently 
assisted  in  its  suppression. 


!i 


I 


2.  Aiding  in  the  Overthrow  of  Slavery.— Although  slavery 
and  the  slave-trade  are  closely  connected,  yet  they  are  not  identical, 

and  should,  therefore,  be  distinguished.   The  slave- 

The  inevitable  revolt  of  traffic  is  far  more  of  an  offense  to  the  moral  sense 

*  •'•very.'*  o^  mankind  than  slavery,  and  the  revolt  against  it 

has  generally  been  in  advance  of  the  condemnation 
of  slavery.  The  latter  may  exist  long  after  the  former  has  been  abolished. 
In  fact,  even  in  modem  times,  the  movement  for  the  extinction  of  sla- 
very has  been  historically  from  one  to  two  generations  later  than  the 
suppression  of  the  traffic.  The  verdict  of  Christianity  has  been  consis- 
tently in  opposition  to  both  these  great  historic  scandals,  except  in  cases 
where  individual  self-interest,  or  the  moral  paralysis  which  is  often  pro- 
duced by  an  environment  of  slavery,  has  distorted  the  judgment  of  mis- 
guided interpreters  of  biblical  teachings  on  the  subject.  Christian 
missions  have  faced  both  evils  on  many  fields,  and  have  waged  against 
them  a  sturdy  warfare  of  moral  antagonism,  which  in  some  instances 
has  been  a  powerful  factor  in  producing  practical  results  of  momentous 
value,  as  was  true  also  in  the  early  history  of  Christianity.^ 


l< 


1  Alexander,  "  The  Islands  of  the  Pacific,"  p.  339. 

»  Guillemard,  "Australasia,"  vol.  ii.  (Stanford's  "  Compendium  of  Geography 
•nd  Travel"),  pp.  92.  3'5.  322.  338. 

3  Brace,  "  Gesta  Christi,"  p.  53;  Schmidt,  "The  Social  Results  of  Early 
Christianity,"  p.  215;  Storrs,  "The  Divine  Origin  of  Christi inity,"  pp.  161-167, 
48S-493. 


%.\ 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


309 


The  most  striking  instance  in  modern  mission  history  of  a  success- 
ful moral  crusade  against  slavery  is  the  memorable  campaign  of  the 
missionaries  in  the  West  Indies,  which  culminated 

„..,,.,.         ,         ,  ,,,..  ,  Th«  mtmorabl* 

m  British  legislation  for  the   total  abolition  of    campaign  of  mitsiou 
slavery  in  1834.     This  decree,  however,  did  not      for  fretdom  in  the 

'       _       .  •!     n    o        »  I  ■   1  Weft  Indie*. 

become  effective  until  1 838.  J amaica,  which  was 
t  liitfly  the  scene  of  these  stirring  events,  was  discovered  by  the  Span- 
iuJs  in  1494,  on  the  second  voyage  of  Columbus  to  the  Western  world. 
l\)r  over  a  century  and  a  half  Spanish  rule,  characterized  by  much 
lieartless  and  brutal  treatment  of  the  native  populations,  wrought  only 
sorrow  and  moral  evil  to  the  island.  A  victory  by  the  British,  in  1655, 
gave  them  the  mihtary  supremacy,  which  was  followed,  in  1 661,  by  the 
establishment  of  a  civil  government.  As  previously  under  Spanish,  so, 
unha' pily,  under  British  rule,  the  slave-trade,  conducted  by  both 
Spanish  and  English  traders,  grew  to  frightful  proportions.  The  island 
became  a  perfect  inferno  of  slavery,  and  the  lowest  depths  of  moral 
degradation  and  of  civil  injustice  and  absolutism  were  reached.' 

The  missionary  campaign  in  Jamaica  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
begun  until  the  entrance  of  the  Moravians  in  1754,  although  the 
Church  of  England  had  been  established  there  since  1662,  not,  how- 
ever, devoting  itself  to  missionary  efforts  at  that  early  date.  The 
Methodists  followed  in  1789,  the  Baptists  in  1S14,  and  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  in  1824,  although  the  Scottish 
Missionary  Society  had  previously  made  an  tmsurcessful  effort  to  open 
a  mission  on  the  island  by  sending  out  thv  Rev.  Joseph  Bethune  in 
1800.     In  1835  the  London  Missionary  Socict;-  -"nd  the  Society  for 


■| 


I  The  barning  words  of  William  Knibb,  the  heroic  missionary  who  was  so 
influential  in  securing  the  final  abolition  of  slavery,  may  serve  to  characterize  the 
abominable  social  conditions  which  were  incidental  to  West  Indian  slavery  early  in 
the  nineteenth  century.  He  writes  :  "  The  cursed  blast  of  slavery  ha?,  like  a  pesti- 
lence, withered  almost  every  moral  bloom.  I  know  not  how  any  person  can  feel  a 
union  with  such  a  monster,  such  a  child  of  hell.  For  myself,  I  have  a  burning 
hatred  against  it,  and  look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  most  odious  monsters  that  ever  dis- 
graced the  earth.  The  slaves  have  temporal  comforts  in  profusion ;  but  their  morals 
are  sunk  below  the  brute,  and  the  iron  hand  of  oppression  daily  endeavours  to  keep 
them  in  that  ignorance  to  which  it  has  reduced  them.  When  contemplating  the 
withering  scene  my  heart  sickens,  and  I  feel  ashamed  that  I  belong  to  a  race  that 
can  indulge  in  such  atrocities.  It  is  in  the  immorality  of  slavery  that  the  evil  chiefly 
consists.  I  can  easily  account  for  persons  becoming  familiarised  with  slavery,  and 
having  a  dislike  to  the  slaves,  as  they  are  very  trying;  but  it  ought  ever  to  be  re- 
membered that  this  proceeds  from  the  system,  and  that  the  owner  has  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  blame  attaching  to  himself."— Smith,  "  William  Knibb:  Missionary  in 
Jamaica,"  pp.  8,  9, 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  also  began  work  in  Jamaica.  Th^  latter 
society  had  rendered  aid  to  the  local  clergy  by  grants  of  books,  and  by 
contributions  of  money  towards  the  partial  payment  of  their  passage, 
since  1 703,  but  its  foreign  missionary  work  proper  began  in  1835,  with 
an  apportionment  of  an  allowance  from  its  Negro  Instruction  Fund  to 
aid  in  educating  the  Negroes  of  Jamaica.  Its  first  missionaries  reached 
the  island  the  next  year.*  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  original  purpose 
of  these  early  missionary  efforts  was  the  religious  instruction  of  the 
slaves.  In  fact,  the  Scottish  Missionary  Society,  which  introduced 
the  Tresbyterian  Church  into  Jamaica,  was  led  to  undertake  its  work 
at  the  solicitation  of  some  Scotch  owners  of  property  in  Jamaica, 
who  urged  the  Society  to  "send  out  missionaries  to  the  slaves 
on  their  estates,"  the  owners  themselves  offering  to  bear  half  the 
expense.2 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  missionaries  in  those  early  times  not  to  at- 
tack slavery  publicly  or  seek  its  overthrow,  a  method  which,  in  view  of 
the  overwhelming  power  of  the  slave  interest, 
Thchoatiutyefth*  would  then  have  been  hopeless.  The  very  fact, 
"^mul"."  «.*"'  however,  that  they  were  friendly  to  the  slaves  and 
devoted  to  their  spiritual  welfare  excited  the  sus- 
picion and  animosity,  and  in  the  end  the  persecuting  violence,  of  the 
great  majority  of  slave-owners.  Laws  were  passed  forbidding  any 
spiritual  teaching  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  among  slaves,  and  it 
soon  became  manifest  that,  while  slavery  lasted,  the  Gospel  would  be 
under  a  ban,  and  mission  work  would  be  bitterly  antagonized.  A 
formidable  insurrection  of  the  slaves  was  quietly  fomented  by  non- 
missionary  agencies  during  Christmas  week  in  1831.  When  it  finally 
broke  out  the  m'ssionaries  were  charged  with  inciting  it.  Against  this 
false  accusation  a  complete  vindication  has  since  been  established,  but 
at  the  time  the  pro-slavery  party  vindictively  used  its  power  to  perse- 
cute them,  and  to  put  down  the  insurrection  with  horrid  cruelty. 
The  leader  of  the  rebellion,  a  slave  named  Samuel  Sharp,  was  executed, 
"  attesting  with  his  last  breath  the  innocence  of  the  missionaries,  and 
declaring  that  if  he  had  listened  to  their  instructions  he  should 
never  have  come  to  that  awful  end."'  A  purpose  to  expel  the  mis- 
sionaries from  the  island  was  fully  formed,  and  an  effort  made  to 
accomplish  it. 

1  Pascoe,  "  Classified  Digest  of  the  Records  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  pp.  195,  229,  885. 

«  Robson,  "  The  Story  of  Our  Jamaica  Mission,"  p.  26. 
»  Smith,  "  William  Knibb:  Missionary  in  Jamaica,"  p.  23. 


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Rev.  J.  M.  I'Hii  III  I'.i. 

Kev.  T.  I!i  KiiiHi  I . 


Kcv.  W.  Kmbii. 


Kev.  John  Wrav. 

Rescued  slaves  brought  ut  Zanzibar,  ca;itureil  from  slave-<:li<>ws  by  Her  Majesty's  ship  I.or-.ilon. 
Missionary    Hkro:s   in    ihe    Annais   of   Frikdom. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


3H 


In  th«  meantime,  William  Knibb,  at  the  instance  of  his  colleagues, 
sailed  for  England,  to  unite  with  Messrs.  Burchell  and  Phillippo  in  an 
appeal  to  British  Christians.  He  sailed  from 
Kingston,  April  26,  1833,  and  on  his  arrival  at  Knibb,  Burchtii,  and 
London,  in  June,  the  three  champions  of  liberty,  ""'triumwriiu'**' 
all  of  whom  were  Baptist  missionaries  to  Jamaica, 
began  their  campaign.'  The  preparatory  work  of  four  noble  philan- 
thropists. Sharp,  Clarkson,  Wilberforce,  and  Buxton,  whose  names  will 
ever  be  associated  with  the  downfall  of  slavery  in  the  British  Empire, 
had  already  influenced  public  sentiment  in  Great  Britain.  The 
addresses  of  these  missionaries  from  Jamaica,  especially  those  of  the 
eloquent  Knibb,  produced  a  powerful  and  instantaneous  impression,  as 
they  went  from  one  large  assembly  to  another  throughout  England  and 
Scotland.  The  Imperial  Parliament  passed,  August  7,  1833,  the  Act 
of  Emancipation,  which  by  royal  assent  became  law  August  28th, 
abolishing  slavery  in  Jamaica  and  all  British  colonies  after  August  i, 
1834.  This  legislation,  involving,  as  it  did,  the  payment  of  twenty 
million  pounds  as  compensation  to  the  slaveholders  for  the  forcible 
manumission  of  the  bondmen,  was  a  splendid  triumph  for  freedom, 
not  only  in  the  annals  of  missions,  but  in  the  history  of  humanity. 
Knibb,  Burchell,  and  Phillippo  returned  to  their  missionary  labors  in 
Jamaica,  where  serious  duties  awaited  them.  The  final  consummation 
of  the  Emancipation  Act  did  not  take  place,  however,  until  August  i , 
1838,  the  first  year  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign.2 

As  passed  by  the  British  Pariiament  the  Act  was  marred  and  fet- 
tered by  a  stipulation  that  the  slaves  should  remain  in  a  state  of  ap- 
prenticeship during  four  years  from  August    i, 
.834.  before  receiving  absolute   freedom.     The   ctr'^Jm^n' ."  jT.fc'. 
planters,  in  their  rage,  took  advantage  of  this  op-  «»»« thanks  to  ood  and 
portunity   to   wreak   their   vengeance   upon   the       ""  ™'"'«>°«""- 
Negroes,  and  committed  violent  excesses  in  the  infliction  of  punish- 
ment and  torture.     The  Island  of  Antigua  alone  was  an  exception, 
for  reasons  which  we  shall  state  presently.     On  the  i  st  of  August,  1 838, 
the  great  triumph  of  justice  in  Jamaica  came,  and  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand human  beings  were  freed  forever  from  bondage,  amid  the  wildest 
rejoicings  and  the  most  heartfelt  thanksgivings.     The  Negroes  fully 
understood  that  this  freedom  had  come  to  them  through  the  interven- 
tion of  Christian  missionaries,  and  their  services  of  praise  and  gratitude 
were  marked  by  a  holy  and  chastened  joy,  and  were  deeply  religious 

•  Smith,  "  William  Knibb:  Missionary  in  Jamaica,"  pp.  35-48. 

*  "  The  Centenary  Volume  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,"  pp.  190-193. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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in  «pirit.>  The  whole  history  of  the  service  rendered  by  missions  to 
the  Negro  population  of  the  West  Indies  is  a  sociological  study  which 
illustrates  in  a  convincing  manner  their  social  benefits  to  a  degraded 
and  downtrodden  race.  Jamaica,  in  contrast  with  the  neighboring 
Island  of  Hayti,  affords  also  a  luminous  example  of  the  blessings 
which  Christianity  in  its  purity  brings  to  a  people  who  receive  it. 

The  chronicles  of  missions  in  South  America,  especially  in  British 

Guiana,  are  also  not  without  illustrations,  although  on  a  less  imposing 

scale,  of  the  services  of  missionaries  to  the  cause 

Th«  haroic  (truni*  of   of  human  freedom.     In  the  early  history  of  the 

^^'Tn'o."'.™""""    London  Missionary  Society,  the  Rev.  John  Wray 

was    sent    to    Demerara    (now    part   of   British 

Guiana).     He  arrived  at  his  destination  in  1808,  where  he  came  in 

contact  with  the  miseries  of  slavery,  which  in  that  region  was  attended 

with  gross  barbarities.     The  same  animosity  which  had  been  manifested 

in  Jamaica  characterized  the  attitude  of  the  slave-owners  towards  the 

missionaries,  and  the  London  Missionary  Society's  agents  became  an 

offense  to  these  vengeful  masters.     "  To  attempt  to  make  the  Negroes 

Christians  was  in  the  eyes  of  the  planters  of  those  days  criminal."     It 

was  cleariy  seen  by  them  that  "  to  introduce  Christianity  was  to  intro- 

>  Smith,  "  William  Knibb:  Missionary  in  Jamaica,"  chap.  vi. ;  Robson,  "  The 
Story  of  Our  Jamaica  Mission,"  chap.  iv. ;  Pitman,  "  The  West  Indies"  ('  utbne 
Missionary  Series),  pp.  87-31. 

"  Mr.  Knibb  gives  a  thrilling  account  of  the  joy  of  his  people  on  the  iccasion  of 
full  freedom.  His  chapel  was  crowded  with  slaves,  who  spent  the  hours  in  praise 
and  prayer,  until  the  clock  pointed  nearly  to  twelve  on  the  night  of  the  31st  of  July. 
As  it  pealed  out  the  stroke  of  twelve,  the  people  rose,  and  broke  out  into  a  loud 
cheer,  which  was  only  interrupted  by  sobs  and  tl  anksgivings.  The  next  nriorning 
a  coffin  was  buried,  containing  a  chain,  handcuffs,  iron  collar,  and  other  insignia  of 
slavery,  while  the  people  uplifted  their  voices  in  the  following  words : 

"  '  Now,  Slavery,  we  lay  thy  vile  form  in  the  dust. 
And,  buried  forever,  there  let  it  remain  ; 
And  rotted  and  covered  with  infamy's  rust 
Be  every  man-whip  and  fetter  and  chain.' 

"  At  Montego  Bay,  at  Brown's  Town,  at  Spanish  Town,  and  at  other  places 
throughout  the  island,  rejoicings  were  loud  and  long-continued.  Yet  we  have  the 
testimony  of  historians  that  nothing  unseemly  occurred.  It  was  said  by  one : '  There 
was  joy  without  riot,  triumph  without  reproach,  multitudes  without  confusion,  while 
religion  assumed  the  undisputed  precedency  over  the  soul-exhilarating  scenes.'  Sir 
Lionel  Smith,  the  Governor  of  Jamaica,  uttered  the  following  memorable  words : 
'  Out  of  the  eight  hundred  thousand  oppressed  slaves  set  free  in  one  day  to  equal 
rights  and  liberty,  not  a  human  being  of  the  mass  has  committed  himself  in  any  of  the 
dreaded ofifenees.'"— Pitman,  "  The  West  Indies,"  pp.  30,  31. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SSIOXS 


313 


^ 


d'.ce  the  spirit  of  freedom,  and  to  hasten  the  day  of  emancipation." 
The  Society's  work  in  British  Guiana  may  be  designated  as  a  mission 
to  slaves  for  the  purpose  of  humane  ministrations  and  Gospel  instruc- 
tion to  a  crushed,  forsaken,  and  despised  people.  A  stirring  account 
of  this  heroic  struggle  is  given  in  a  beautiful  and  impressive  chapter 
of  "  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  by  the  Rev.  C. 
Silvester  Home  (pp.  146-170).  The  obstructive  attitude  of  the 
colonial  authorities  towards  every  attempt  to  teach  and  elevate  the 
slaves,  the  bitter  hostility  of  the  planters,  the  intrepid  and  self-sacrific- 
ing efforts  of  Wray,  Davies,  and  Smith,  the  disheartening  hindrances, 
the  cheerful  toils,  the  courageous  devotion,  and  the  memorable  suc- 
cesses of  twenty-five  years  of  conflict,  are  all  told  by  Mr.  Home  with 
a  fullness  of  detail  which  is  impossible  in  these  pages. 

The  Emancipation  Act  of  1 834  brought  relief,  and  gave  a  brighter 
outlook  to  what  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  forlorn  hopes  of  mission 
history.     We  do  not  wonder  that  this  quarter  of  a 
century  of  heroism  has  been  embalmed  with  grati-    *  miMionary'»  expoit 
tude  and  pride  in  the  records  of  the  London  Mis-     °' Brituh  oLurj: '" 
sionary  Society.     The  account  of  John  Wray's 
visit  to  England  in  181 1,  to  seek  the  repeal  of  iniquitous  legislation, 
and  his  triumphant  return,  cannot  be  read  unmoved.*     The  unsparing 

>  "  In  the  midst  of  many  encouragements,  and  at  a  time  when  Mr.  Wray  was 
able  to  report  that  there  was  a  better  feeling  towards  his  work  among  several  of  the 
neighbouring  planters,  the  dreaded  blow  fell.  This  was  nothing  less  than  a  Govern, 
ment  proclamation  forbidding  the  slaves  to  assemble,  for  any  purpose  whatsoever, 
before  sunrise  or  after  sunset.  Any  Englishman  taking  part  in  such  illegal  meeting 
was  liable  to  a  fine  of  fifty  pounds ;  the  slaves  were  to  be  subject  to  very  severe 
punishments.  The  proclamation  was  issued  in  181 1.  It  was,  of  course,  an  absolute 
barrier  to  any  instruction  during  the  week-days,  as  the  slaves  worked  from  sun- 
rise  to  sundown.  Mr.  Wray  was  regarded  as  a  very  quiet,  patient,  and  peaceable 
man.  Possibly  the  authorities  imagined  he  would  tamely  submit ;  if  so,  they  were 
mistaken.  He  first  of  all  demanded  an  interview  with  Governor  Bentinck,  to  whom 
he  stated  his  case.  The  Governor  assured  him  that  if  he  were  caught  breaking  the 
law  he  should  be  banished  from  the  colony.  Wray's  reply  to  this  was  that  he  would 
not  break  the  law,  but  would  go  direct  to  England  and  make  his  appeal  at  head- 
quarters. With  his  usual  determination,  he  walked  straight  to  the  docks,  and  found 
a  ship  that  was  to  sail  for  England  in  a  few  days,  with  a  cargo  of  cotton,  -i-he 
captain  assured  him  that  all  the  berths  were  choked  with  cotton-bales,  and  that  he 
could  not  take  passengers.  Wray  replied  that  he  did  not  wnnt  a  berth,  but  would 
sleep  on  the  bales.  He  must  go  to  England  at  once.  The  terms  were  arranged. 
...  On  June  16,  1811,  John  Wray  sailed  for  England.  If  Governor  Bentinck 
imagmed  that  he  could  intimidate  this  young  missionary,  he  hnd  evidently  reckoned 
with  the  wrong  man. 

"  Six  weeks  among  the  cotton-bales  >vas  probably  not  the  most  congenial  position 


m 


\  % 


■\ 


11 


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314 


C/lKlsriAN  MISSIOXS  A.\D  SOCIAL   PKOGKESS 


expose  of  the  conditions  of  colonial  slavery  in  those  days,  sent  home  in 
1 823  by  the  Rev.  John  Smith,  is  perhaps  the  most  powerful  and  scathing 
presentation  of  the  subject  that  can  be  found,  and  bears  upon  its  face  the 
marks  of  absolute  authenticity  and  truthfulness.     The  principal  point.s  of 
the  indictment  arc  summarized  in  Mr,  Home's  volume  as  follows:  "  In 
the  colony  there  are  about  four  hundred  slaves  to  five  whites  able  to  bear 
arms.     The  slaves  live  in  huts,  that  only  deserve  the  name  of  kennels, 
and  are  turned  out  at  six  in  the  morning  by  the  drivers  cracking  their 
whips  as  they  might  at  a  number  of  horses  or  cattle.     Work  goes  on 
till  six  in  the  evening,  and  often  half  through  the  night  as  well.     The 
Sunday  rest  is  not  properly  observed,  as  they  arc  then  [employed  in 
other  ways.     The  slaves  work  in  gangs  under  a  black  '  driver.*     Pun- 
ishment consists  in  a  man  or  woman  being  stretched  out  on  the  ground 
—hands  and  feet  tied  to  stakes— and  then  beaten  with  the  whip,  some- 
times to  the  extent  of  a  hundred  lashes.     If  the  work  is  not  finished, 
the  slave  who  is  behindhand  is  put  itito  the  stocks,  in  prison,  and  kept 
there  all  night.     Cases  are  frequent  in  which  slaves,  after  cruel  beatings, 
have  been  detained  many  days,  and  even  weeks,  in  the  stocks,  that  the 
marks  on  their  backs  might  not  be  seen.     The  only  furniture  allowed 
the  slave  is  one  iron  pot  for  the  .amily,  and  a  blanket  for  each  individual. 
Children  from  twelve  years  old  upwards  must  work  just  the  same  as 
grown  men  and  women.     The  slaves  have  no  time  to  clean  their  huts, 
and  they  keep  their  fowls  in  them,  so  that  the  state  of  tilth  is  incon- 
ceivable.    Their  food  consists  of  vegetables  and  salt  fish.     Their  moral 
life  is  naturally  very  low  and  degraded ;  but  even  here,  Mr.  Smith  as- 
serts, they  compare  favourably  with  the  whites,  whose  licentiousness 
and  profanity  are  abominable.     No  wonder  that  he  concluded  his 
Irtter  with  the  words :  '  To  nurture  this  system  of  slavery  is  a  foul  blot 

in  the  world ;  but  the  voyage  h:\d  to  be  made  somehow,  and  '  the  King's  business 
requireth  haste.'  After  a  brief  stay  at  Liverpool,  Wray  pushed  on  to  London,  and 
easily  enlisted  Wilberforce  and  Stephens  on  his  side.  His  case  wai  duly  presented 
and  enforced ;  and  he  soon  had  the  gratification  of  knowing  that  missionary  work 
in  Demerara,  and  other  colonies  where  slavery  existed,  was  saved.  By  Government 
(Iciree,  on  all  plantations  where  the  planters  offered  no  objection,  the  slaves  might 
n\eet  at  any  hour  between  5  a.m.  and  9  P.M.  on  Sundays,  and  between  7  a.m.  and 
9  I'.  M.  on  week-days.  In  six  months  from  the  time  of  his  sailing  from  Demerart, 
\Vray  was  back  again,  having  secured  his  charter.  Governor  Bentinck  naturally 
was  not  cordial.  He  had  been  clearly  beaten,  and  he  did  not  accept  defeat  manfully. 
Kor  some  time  he  made  no  formal  announcement  that  the  former  proclamation  was 
withdrawn.  But  his  term  of  authority  was  at  an  end.  In  April,  1812,  he  was  super- 
seded, and  the  new  Governor  was  entirely  favourable  to  the  missionaries."— Home, 
"  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  pp.  15a,  153. 


»( 


THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


WXT, 


on  the  British  character,  which  every  lover  of  hi«  country  'hould  deili- 
cate  hit  whole  life  to  efface.'  "  ' 

Let  it  be  noted  that  in  1823  what  was  regarded  as  ...  ..i.portant 
victory  in  the  interest  of  the  slaves  in  Dcmerara  was  gained  through 
British  legi.sIation.  And  what  was  this  new  law  for 
which  at  that  time  thanks  were  given  in  the  name  An  honortd  nam*  in 
of  humanity?  It  was  "that  slaves  should  not  be  «ht Mn*!! of frMdom. 
worked  more  than  nine  hours  a  da/,  and  that 
women  should  not  be  flogged."  We  read  that  when  the  news  reached 
Demerara  it  "  was  received  with  great  indignation  by  the  planters,"  and 
that  the  Governor  refused  to  proclaim  it.  Distorted  rumors  of  the 
withholding  of  some  good  tidings  so  excited  the  Negroes  that  an  insur- 
rection followed,  which  was  put  down  with  frightful  cruelties.  The 
Rev.  John  Smith  was  falsely  accused  of  aiding  ami  abetting  in  rebel- 
lion, was  tried  by  court  martial,  and  publicly  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
This  sentence  was  not  executed,  but  Mr.  Smith  was  confined  in  a  loath- 
some, malarious  prison-cell,  where  he  fell  a  victim  to  a  swift  and  fatal 
illness.  He  lies  in  an  unknown  grave  in  Demerara,  but  in  life  and  in 
death  he  was  a  hero,  and  his  name  deserves  to  be  written  high  on  the 
roll  of  honor  in  the  annals  of  human  freedom.^  In  1836  the  Rev. 
S.  R.  Murkland  and  his  wife  sailed  for  Demerara  under  appointment  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society.  It  is  reported  of  Mrs.  Murkland  that 
through  her  instrumentality  more  than  a  thousand  Negro  slaves  learned 
to  read  the  Word  of  God. 

The  Moravian  Missionary  Society  has  also  an  honorable  record  in 
connection  with  the  emancipation  of  slaves  in  the  West  Indies  and  in 
Central  and  South  America.     As  early  as  1732  its 
missionaries  entered  the  Danish  West  Indies,  and  J„*'4r„"ch';":r/.. 
in  1756  the  mission  on  the  Island  of  Antigua  was   JntheWeit  indieiand 
established.     It  was  by  the  advice  of  the  Angli-        D"t«=»' Q»»"«- 
can,  Wesleyan,  and  Moravian  missionaries  that  Governor  Macgregor, 
'"   1834,  promptly  gave  effect  to  the  Emancipation  Act,  and  saved 

'  Home,  "  The  Story  of  the  LonJon  Missionary  Society,"  pp.  160,  161. 

*  "  One  cannot  help  thinking  with  even  deeper  reverence  and  tenderness 
of  another  and  a  nameless  grave  [not  Wray's]  in  Demerara,  the  precise  situation 
ot  which  no  man  knows,  where  he  sleeps  who,  for  his  consistent  and  chivalrous 
devotion  to  '  the  poor  and  him  that  hath  no  helper,'  was  sentenced  to  a  felon's  death, 
and  died  in  a  felon's  cell.  Doubtless  he  has  his  rew  ',  not  only  in  that  rest 
which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God,  but  in  that  day  of  liberty  which  he  saw  not, 
but  which  he  greeted  afar,  and  in  the  honour  and  reverence  which  all  true  children 
of  freedom  will  ever  feel  for  John  Smith  of  Demerara."— /*i(/.,  p.  170. 

»   Tkt  Missionary,  April,  1896,  p.  183. 


lifl 


1         ' 


i 


316  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

thirty  thousand  slaves  from  four  years  of  apprenticeship.     The  religious 
instruction  of  the  missionaries  is  declared,  in  the  preamble  to  the  official 
document,  to  be  the  secret  of  the  fitness  of  the  Antigua  slaves  to  re- 
ceive  immediate  manumission.     It  was  announced  that  the  decree  of 
freedom  would  take  eflFect  August  i,  1834.     Upon  the  evening  of 
July  3xst,  the  slaves  gathered  in  the  historic  Spring  Gardens  Church, 
at  St.  Johns,  Antigua,  and  Bennet  Harvey,  a  Moravian  missionary, 
preached  to  them  as  a  congregation  of  slaves  for  the  last  time,  from 
the  text,  "  Sanctify  yourselves ;  for  to-morrow  the  Lord  will  do  wonders 
among  you."     Shortly  after  eleven  o'clock  the  roll  of  thunder  was 
heard,  increasing  in  loudness  as  midnight  approached.     "  It  is  Massa 
breakin'  de  chains.  Hallelujah!"  exclaimed   the   wondering  throng. 
The  stroke  of   midnight  brought  the  day  of  freedom  amid  deep, 
ecstatic  joy.»     The  mission  of  the  Moravians  in  Dutch  Guiana  was 
chiefly  devoted,  at  an  early  date,  to  the  welfare  of  the  slaves,  includ- 
ing  Negroes,  bushmen,  and  coolies.     The  black  population  of  Surinam, 
which  has  been  won  to  Christianity,  is  indebted  almost  exclusively  to 
the  missionaries  of  this  Society  for  its  knowledge  of  the  Gospel.     Even 
as  early  as  the  opening  of  the  present  century,  1645  of  the  Indian  and 
slave  population  of  English  and  Dutch  Guiana  were  enrolled  as  Chns- 
tians  in  connection  with  their  missions.2    The  Moravians  were  especially 
commissioned  by  the  Government  of  Dutch  Guiana  as  far  back  as  the 
beginning  of  this  century  to  take  pastoral  charge  of  the  slaves  and 
prisoners  at  the  government  posts.^     A  baptized  membership  of  over 
twenty-eight  thousand  is  now  found  in  their  missions  in  Dutch  Guiana. 
Of  this  number  8584  are  adult  communicants.* 

The  African  Continent  is  just  at  present  in  a  special  sense  the  arena 
of  missionary  activity  on  behalf  of  slaves.     These  efforts,  however,  are 
not  put  forth  directly  or  forcibly  for  the  suppres- 
The  role  of  miiBion.  In  gion  of  slavery,  but  rather  with  a  view  to  the  culti- 
**"  "u^JS"*'  °'      ^^f '°"  °^  *"  anti-slavery  sentiment  in  native  minds, 
the  encouragement  and  hastening  of  a  policy  of 
abolition  in  European  administration,  the  mitigation  of  existing  bar- 
barities, and  the  provision  of  settlements,  homes,  and  schools  for  the 
care  and  training  of  liberated  slaves.     The  missionary  agencies  which 
have  been  referred  to  in  the  previous  section,  as  participating  by  moral 
sympathy  and  humane  cooperation  in  the  effort  to  suppress  the  slave- 

1  Thompson,  "  Moravian  Missions,"  p.  in.     See  also  article  by  the  Rev.  F. 
Clemens,  in  The  Illustrated  Missionary  News,  April,  1895,  pp.  65,  66. 

«  Thompson,  "  Moravian  Missions,"  p.  149-  *  ^''*^'  P'  '^o- 

«  Ptriodical  Accounts  0/ the  Moravian  Missions,  September,  1898,  p.  578. 


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7WS  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


317 


trade,  might  with  equal  propriety  be  mentioned  here  as  exerting  a  steady 
pressure  against  slavery,'  and  extending  a  helping  hand,  wherever 
opportunity  offers,  for  the  alleviation  of  the  misery  it  brings.  It  often 
happens  that  political  and  military  authorities,  in  the  exercise  of  their 
legal  right  to  rescue  the  victims  of  the  slave-trade,  or  to  liberate  those 
who  are  held  in  illegal  bondage,  find  themselves  embarrassed  by  the 
demand  for  the  personal  care  and  training  of  these  unfortunate  natives, 
who  are  suddenly  ushered  into  freedom,  with  no  provision  for  them  in 
their  friendlessness  and  helplessness.  It  is  just  then  that  the  missionary 
agency  steps  in  with  a  beneficent  ministry  and  the  offer  of  a  temporary 
refuge,  an  industrial  setdement,  or  an  educational  instit'ition,  includ- 
ing the  assurance  of  friendly  help  and  useful  training. 

The  importance  of  this  feature  of  missionary  service  at  the  present 
stage  of  progress  in  world-emancipation  is  manifest  when  we  take  note 
of  the  marvelous  providential  impulse  which  has 
been  given  within  a  very  few  years  to  the  cause  of      *  marveioui  era  of 

"  .  r    r       J  emancipation  and 

universal  abolition.  Proclamation  j  of  freedom  miuionary  opportunity, 
are  echoing  oughout  the  African  Continent 
from  Nyassa  lo  Cairo,  and  from  Zanzibar  to  Nigeria.  Human 
avalanches  of  freedmen  hue  been  let  loose,  and  lie  in  ignorance  and 
moral  disorder  around  the  centres  of  missionary  activity.  In  one  single 
year  the  status  of  slavery  has  been  abolished  in  the  Niger  Territories  on 
the  west,  and  in  the  Zanzibar  Protectorate  on  the  east.2     The  year 

1  "  There  is  no  need  to  show  how  Christianity  tends  to  counteract  this  social  evil. 
The  two  things  are  incompatible,  and  where  Christianity  exists,  and  in  proportion 
as  it  spreads,  so  will  slavery  die  a  natural  death,  and  it  is,  very  gradually,  giving 
way.  For  hundreds  of  years  it  has  gone  on,  with  no  single  voice  raised  against  it. 
Now  for  the  first  time  the  natives  are  hearing  that  it  is  wrong,  and  the  voice  of 
protest  will  year  by  year  gather  force  and  volume,  as  the  number  of  native  Christians, 
pledged  by  the  baptismal  vow  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  slavery,  increases."— Rev. 
J.  S.  Wimbush  (U.  M.  C.  A.),  Kota  Kota,  British  Central  Africa. 

*  The  decree  of  abolition,  so  far  as  the  Zanzibar  Protectorate  is  concerned,  has 
not  been  as  satisfactory  in  its  workings  as  the  friends  of  emancipation  in  England 
have  desired.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  stipulated  that  compensation  should  be  made 
to  the  owners  of  slaves  set  free.  Again,  while  the  precise  intent  of  the  phrase 
"abolition  of  the  legal  status  of  slavery"  may  not  be  historically  open  to  ques- 
tion, as  Mr.  Alexander  contends  {The  Anti-Slavery  Reporter,  March-June,  1898, 
pp.  91-94),  it  is  evident  that  the  government  interpretation  put  upon  it  in  the  Zanzibar 
decree  assigns  to  it  the  meaning  that  a  slave,  though  legally  free,  is  not  practically 
so  until  he  proves  himself  entitled  to  and  actually  secures  his  papers  of  emancipation 
from  the  proper  authorities.  Intimidation,  ignorance,  or  some  other  hindrance  may 
keep  him  from  doing  this,  although  there  is  no  legal  restraint  upon  his  formal  appli- 
cation, and  in  this  way  the  practical  results  of  the  decree  may  develop  very  slowly. 
Strange  to  say,  also,  its  privileges  are  denied  in  the  case  of  slaves  who  are  conca- 


*l 


i'^  ' 


M 


, 'i 


I 


I 


318  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

1897  will  be  memorable  in  the  history  of  the  world  as  witnessing  the 
legal  manumission  of  probably  not  less  than  twelve  million  slaves.     In 
the  Nyassaland  Protectorate  the  leaders  in  the  traffic  have  fallen,  and 
the  powerful  Yao  nation  is  rapidly  coming  into  touch  with  civilizing  in- 
fluences.   The  Commissioner  of  the  single  district  of  Blantyre  reports, 
in  1895,  that  there  is  a  population  under  his  care  which  he  estimates 
at  22,206  souls,  and  that  this  number  consists  largely  of  "the  slaves 
released  during  the  expeditions  of  the  last  twelve  months." '     The  vic- 
tory not  long  since  of  the  British  over  Lobengula,  the  Matabele  king, 
has  subdued  the  strongest  native  supporter  of  slavery  and  heathenism 
south  of  the  equator.     The  Arab  slave-traders  in  the  region  of  the 
Upper  Congo  have  also  been  defeated.     Tippu  Tib  is  no  longer  able 
to  decimate  whole  sections  of  Central  Africa,  while  the  notorious 
ravagers  of  Nyassaland  are  brought  low.     In  the  Island  of  M<idagas- 
car,  as  if  in  sympathy  with  the  upheavals  of  the  neighboring  continent, 
there  was  a  shout  of  triumph  and  joy  one  September  morning  in  1896, 
when  a  million  slaves  awoke  to  find  themselves  suddenly  and  forever 
free.     So  unexpectedly  was  the  announcement  made  by  the  French 
authorities  that  some  of  the  slaveholders  knew  nothing  of  it  until  their 
own  slaves  made  a  morning  call  to  announce  their  freedom. 

bines.   The  decree  was  issued  in  the  name  of  the  Sultan,  and  its  execution  was  unfortu. 

nately  left  largely  in  the  hands  of  native  administration,  which  has  been  exceedingly 

reluctant  to  give  it  due  effect.     There  is  reason  to  hope  that  all  this  will  in  time  be 

remedied.     In  the  meantime,  the  interpretation  which  is  put  upon  the  fact  that  the 

.lecree  touches  only  the  legal  status,  and  the  way  in  which  this  is  distinguished  from 

instant  and  effective  manumission,  are  points  worthy  of  note.    The  distinction  is 

well  st-itcd  in  the  following  paragraph  from  the  London  Times:  "  It  is  important  to 

notice  this  difference  between  the  abolition  of  the  legal  status  of  slavery  and  the 

.ibolition  of  slavery  pure  and   simple.      By  the  abolition  of  slavery  pure  and 

simple,  as  it  was  carried  out  in  the  British  possessions  under  the  Act  of  1834,  every 

slave  is  actually  freed.     By  the  abolition  of  the  legal  status  of  slavery  the  support  of 

the  law  is  withdrawn  from  the  maintenance  of  the  condition  of  slavery,  and  the  slave 

is  put  in  a  position  to  claim  his  freedom  if  he  chooses.     Until  he  so  chooses  he  re- 

mains  a  slave,  but  the  continued  acceptance  of  his  slavery  is  •  purely  voluntary 

agreement  on  his  part,  of  which  the  law  refuses  to  take  cognizance.     He  cannot  be 

sued  in  any  Court  on  the  ground  of  his  alleged  servile  status.     Any  act  which  would 

he  a  penal  offence  if  committed  against  the  person  or  property  of  a  free  man  becomes 

equally  an  offence  against  him,  and  he  has  in  every  respect  the  rights  of  a  citizen. 

The  law  as  promulgated  under  the  late  decree  gives,  not  freedom,  but  a  permissive 

right  to  freedom,  to  every  inhabitant  of  Zanzibar  and  Pemba  who  chooses  to  claim 

it."     For  further  and  recent  information  concerning  the  results  of  the  decree,  see 

Blue  Book,  "  Africa,  No.  6,  1898  "  ;  The  Anti.s:avery  Reporter,  July-August,  1898 ; 

and  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  October,  1898.  pp.  7»I-735- 

I  The  Christian  Express,  September,  1896,  p.  141. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


319 


The  result  of  this  swift  onward  movement  of  emancipation  is  seen 
in  the  frequent  mention  by  missionary  correspondents  from  Africa  of 
the  sudden  call  at  various  points  to  minister  to 
slaves  rescued  from  the  caravan  or  the  dhow,  or  to  Miuionary  care  of 
those  who  have  stepped  from  a  state  of  slavery  Hb«rated  ■i«vet. 
into  that  of  freedom.  "  A  Stolen  Boy  Rescued," 
"  An  Unlooked-for  Arrival,"  "  Another  Catch  of  Slaves,"  "  An  Inter- 
cepted Caravan,"  are  now  familiar  headings  in  African  missionary 
communications.  The  capacity  of  places  provided  by  the  various  mis- 
sions for  the  reception  and  care  of  slaves  is  liable  to  be  taxed  to  the 
utmost  by  the  unexpected  arrival  of  parties,  varying  in  size,  which  have 
been  snatched  out  of  the  clutches  of  the  trader.*  How  thoroughly 
and  cordially  this  cooperation  of  missionary  service  is  appreciated  by 
English  and  other  officials  is  well  illustrated  by  the  statement  of  Sir 
John  Kirk,  former  Consul-General  in  Zanzibar,  who  writes :  "  Without 
the  Mission  I  do  not  know  how  otherwise  I  could  have  provided  for 
the  welfare  of  the  many  poor  slaves  who,  when  freed,  fell  into  my  hands. 
They  had  to  be  taught  what  freedom  was,  and  how  as  free  men  they 
could  live.  All  this  has  been  done  under  the  Mission,  and  now  a  large 
class  has  grown  up  in  Zanzibar,  looking  to  the  British  Agency  and  the 
Universities'  Mission  for  protection  and  advice.  Apart  from  this  much 
good  has  been  done  on  the  mainland."  ^    The  whole  case  has  been  put 

1  African  Tidings,  March,  1 894,  p.  24. 

2  Another  and  very  recent  testimony  is  from  Mr.  Basil  Cave,  C.B..  Fler  Maj- 
esty's Consul  at  Zanzibar,  who  in  an  address  at  the  anniversary  of  the  Universities' 
Mission,  in  June,  1897,  spoke  as  follows:  "  You  are  doubtless  aware  that,  in  spite 
of  all  the  efforts  that  have  been  made  to  check  and  put  a  stop  to  the  traffic  in  slaves, 
and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  those  cruel  raids  of  former  times  have,  at  any  rate  so 
far  as  the  English  and  German  spheres  of  interest  are  concerned,  been  effectually 
checked,  yet  cases  do  arise  more  or  less  frequently  when  little  boys  and  girls— 
sometimes  older,  but  generally  younger — kidnapped  on  the  coast,  or  on  the  island, 
and  brought  to  Zanzibar  for  sale,  and  perhaps  subsequently  transhipped  to  Arabia,  fall 
into  the  hands  of  ihe  English  or  Zanzibar  Government  representatives,  and  receive 
their  freedom  in  the  Consular  Court.  I  remember  on  one  occasion  when  as  many 
as  seventy  were  rescued  in  this  way— mostly  children.  I  think  you  will  agree  with 
me  that  it  would  be  utterly  unsatisfactory,  I  might  say  inhuman,  if  we  were  merely 
to  hand  them  a  certificate  of  freedom,  and  dismiss  them  to  take  care  of  themselves  ; 
for  most  of  them  would  have  nowhere  to  go,  and  they  are  utterly  incapable  of  look- 
ing after  themselves  and  their  own  interest  and  welfare.  So  we  find  it  very  difficult 
often  to  know  how  to  arrange  for  their  future  disposal.  But,  fortunately  for  them 
and  for  us,  the  doors  of  this  Mission's  houses  in  Zanzibar  are  open  to  all  of  them, 
from  little  wee  mites  trying  to  toddle  along  by  Miss  Mills'  side  at  Kilimani,  to  the 
old  men  and  women,  who,  whenever  it  is  possible,  are  allowed  to  find  a  place  on 
the  shamba  at  Mbweni ;  and,  I  assure  you,  I  have  more  than  once  been  very  severely 


i:  ^ 
i    !; 


320  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

in  a  few  words,  by  a  writer,  who,  in  referring  to  the  slave  population  of 
Zanzibar  and  Pemba,  calls  attention  to  two  striking  facts  of  the  situa- 
tion- first,  that  it  "lies  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  the  greatest  empire  m 
the  world,  uneducated,  unevangelized " ;  and,  second,  that  "it  awaits 
the  succor  of  the  Christian  Church."  The  Government  has  now  m  a 
measure  discharged  its  duty  by  the  decree  of  legal  emancipation.  It 
remains  for  the  Church,  throup!  the  instrumentality  of  missions,  to 
rescue  the  spiritual  nature  of  this  unenlightened  multitude,  and  bnng 
it  into  the  freedom  and  hope  of  the  Gospel. 

It  may,  we  think,  be  historically  demonstrated  that  Chnstianity,  if 
not  indeed  the  only  moral  agency,  is  at  least  the  most  effective  one 
which  has  waged  an  aggressive  warfare  upon  sla- 
The  chrutian  Church    yery.   Its  Cardinal  truth  of  the  brotherhood  of  man. 
.ndiuhutoricattitude  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^jj^jj^^  fatherhood, and  involving 
towr  ...v.ry.       ^^_^^_^^  .quality  in  the  sight  of  God.  as  well  as 
the  essential  value  of  all  human  souls,  is  irreconcilable  with  the  condi- 
tion of  servitude.     At  the  communion-table  of  Christ  the  relationship 
of  ntasler  and  slave  becomes  the  merest  fiction,  while  before  the  face 
of  the  Creator,  in  whose  likeness  all  men  are  made,  the  insistence 
upon  such  a  relationship  involves  an  intolerable  assumption  and  injus- 
tice    It  was  a  custom  in  the  eariy  Church  for  Christian  masters  to  free 
their  slaves,  as  an  act  of  piety.     While  this  is  all  true,  still  great  cau- 
tion, patience,  and  wise  moderation  are  necessary  on  the  part  of  the 
Church  in  refraining  from  violent  attacks  upon  slavery  where  it  is  firmly 
established  as  a  social  institution.     The  influence  of  Christianity  will 
inevitably  work  out  a  fruitage  of  freedom.     The  prevalence  of  the 
Chiistian  spirit  will  ultimately  change,  enlighten,  and  humanize  public 
sentiment,  and  culminate,  albeit  slowly,  in  permanent  reforms.     Where 
this  spirit,  however,  has  been  lacking,  little,  if  anything,  has  been  done. 
The  struggle  was  a  severe  one  in  eariy  Church  history,  despite  earnest 
protests  and  vigorous  action  in  opposition  to  slavery  on  the  part  ot 
many  of  the  spiritual  leaders.     The  conflict  lasted  through  the  religious 
formalism  of  the  Middle  Ages,  although  the  consistent  attitude  of  the 
true  Christian  heart  was  revealed  in  that  beautiful  ritual  of  manumis- 
sion :  "  I,  in  the  name  of  God,  thinking  of  the  love  of  God,  do  free  this 

handled  by  Miss  Thackeray  and  Miss  Berkeley,  not.  as  you  woold  suppose,  because 
I  have  sent  too  many,  but  because  1  have  not  kept  up  a  sufficiently  constant  supp  y 
o  enpge  all  their  aUention  .n  training  miserable,  half-starved.  naked  savages  mo 
well-fed,  well-clothed.  and  happy  Christian  children.  I  think  you  w.l  ap-ee  w  th 
„>e.  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  .f  the  Mission  did  nothmg  else,  that  ,s  a  work  for 
which  we  ought  to  be  deeply  gr«efnl."-C«./ra/ W/n.a.  July.  1897.  PP-  '<*.  107. 


I  !■ 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SS/O.VS 


321 


slave  from  the  bonds  of  servitude."  Even  towards  the  middle  of  our 
present  century,  slavery  still  remained  one  of  the  unsolved  problems  of 
civilization,  until  England  led  the  van  in  the  march  of  emancipation, 
and  by  the  decree  of  abolition  achieved,  to  her  honor,  what  Mr.  Lecky 
has  described  as  "one  of  the  three  or  four  perfectly  virtuous  acts 
recorded  in  the  history  of  nations." ' 

Modem  missions,  from  their  earliest  contact  with  African  slavery, 
have  been  true  to  their  high  trust.    The  movement  towards  freedom 
has  been  slow,  but  its  initial  stages  have  an  hon- 
ored place  in  the  annals  of  all  our  great  missionary    Modern  ip.  uiom  have 

"  ■>         been  true  to  their 

organizations.     The  Church  Missionary  Society's  truet. 

Report  for  1810  states  that  the  school  at  Rio 
Pongas,  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa,  contained  some  slave  boys 
redeemed  by  the  missionaries.  Again,  in  1 8 1 1 ,  it  is  recorded  that 
Governor  Maxwell,  of  Sierra  Leone,  consigned  six  Negro  children  to 
the  missionaries  for  education,  and  that  these  six  children  represented 
"  the  first  instance  of  African  slaves,  liberated  by  British  cruisers,  com- 
mitted to  the  missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society."  -  A  pre- 
vious effort  to  instruct  the  slaves  is  recorded  as  early  as  1 798,  concerning 
a  Christian  man  at  Stellenbosch,  South  Africa.  In  the  memoirs  of  Mr. 
Borcherds  it  is  asserted  that  a  certain  Mr.  Johan  Nicholas  Desch  held 
a  meeting  at  Stellenbosch  every  Sunday  for  the  instruction  of  slaves. 
Nothing  of  the  kind  seems  to  be  on  record  again  until  1824,  when,  at 
the  same  place,  "  a  school-room  and  church  were  built  by  subscription. 


i  Bishop  Barry,  in  his  Hulsean  Lectures,  in  referring  to  the  history  of  the 
colonial  churches,  touches  upon  the  relation  of  the  Christian  Church  to  slavery,  espe- 
cially in  the  West  Indies.  The  following  paragraph,  although  written  with  particular 
reference  to  colonial  church  life,  expresses  the  true  attitude  of  missions  towards  this 
world-problem :  "  It  was  obvious  that  only  by  the  progress  of  the  true  '  humanity ' 
of  self-sacrifice  of  the  strong  for  the  weak,  which  has  to  fight  against  the  lower 
spirit  of  selfishness,  and  of  the  faith  in  right  principle,  which  steadily  refuses  to 
'  do  evil  that  good  may  come,'  could  an  institution  so  deep-rooted  and  engrained  in 
social  life  be  gradually  cast  out.  It  was  the  task  of  Christianity  to  create  and  foster 
that  higher  humanity,  under  the  sense  of  a  common  Fatherhood  of  God  and  a  com- 
mon salvation  in  Christ— to  enunciate  the  great  principle,  '  No  longer  a  slave,  but  a 
brother  beloved  in  the  Lord,'  and  leave  it  to  work  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 
people.  So  had  the  slavery  of  serfship  been  gradually  destroyed  in  Europe ;  so  now 
the  question,  '  Am  not  I  a  man  and  a  brother? '  which  is  to  us  somewhat  obsolete, 
was  to  be  asked  in  relation  to  a  wider  brotherhood  of  all  humanity.  The  real  battle 
had,  of  course,  to  be  fought  at  home ;  the  Church  in  the  West  Indies  had  simply  to 
act  as  an  auxiliary,  and  meanwhile  prepare  both  masters  and  slaves  for  the  coining 
change."— "The  Ecclesiastical  Expansion  of  England,"  p.  240. 

*  Tie  Churth  Missionary  Inttlligencer,  December,  1893,  pp.  894,  896. 


IP 


t|i 


322 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


V 


I  \ 


\\ 


i  i 
I 


i      'i: 


and  solemnly  opened  on  the  5th  of  February,  the  then  Governor,  Lord 
Charles  Somerset,  and  the  authorities  of  the  village  being  present."  » 

The  past  half-century  has  witnessed  the  establishment  of  vastly 
increased  facilities  for  caring  for  the  spiritual,  intellectual,  and  industrial 
welfare  of  African  slaves.     Without  repeating  in 
The  rapid  growth  of     (qo  much  detail  references  to  agencies  in  different 
:^"  urrni;S.dm«.  parts  of  Africa,  enumerated  in  the  previous  section, 
it  is  still  worth  while  to  note  that  these  facilities 
are  available  for  freeumen  delivered  from  slavery,  as  well  as  for  those 
wlio  are  rescued  from  the  slave-raider's  caravan  or  the  Arab  dhow. 
The  Universities'  Mission  has  its  educational  institutions,  its  shambas 
(industrial  plantations),  and  its  settlements  at  Zanzibar  and  on  the 
mainland.     At  Kiungani,  near  the  city  of  Zanzibar,  is  a  training-college, 
in  which  many  of  the  pupils  received  were  "raw  slaves  from  the 
dhows."  2     Mbweni,  a  flourishing  shamba,  and  the  scene  of   Mi.ss 
Thackeray's  devoted  labors,  shelters  over  a  hundred  released  slave 
girls.     At  Kilimani,  in  a  refuge  for  little  boys  who  have  been  snatched 
from  slavery.  Miss  Mills  and  Miss  Clutterbuck  have  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  lads  under  their  care.^     Upon  the  mainland,  at  Kichelwe,  not 
far  from  Dar-es-Salaam,  is  an  interesting  and  independent  colony  of 
some  three  hundred  released  slaves,  who  have  constituted  themselves 
an  orderiy  community,  and,  at  their  own  request,  are  under  the  spiritual 
ministrations  of  a  native  deacon,  provided  for  them  by  the  Universities' 
Mission.     They  are  diligent,  industrious,  and  happy,  and  have.built  for 
themselves  a  place  of  worship.* 

The  Church   Missionary  Society   has   founded   at   Frere  Town, 

opposite    Mombasa,   a    freed-slave   settlement,  with  a   home  where 

rescued  slaves  are  cared  for  by  the  agents  of  the 

Settlement*  and  homes  Society.     This  asylum  was  established  in  1874,  at 

^"  ^"ilmcL'""  *"       the  recommendation  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  after  his 

visit  to  Zanzibar,  in   1872,  for  the  purpose  of 

negotiating  a  treaty  prohibiting  the  slave-trade.     The  Annual  Report 

of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  for  1897  records  the  interesting  fact 

that  Bishop  Tucker  had  ordained  at  Frere  Town  the  first  hberated  slave 

1   The  Christian,  July  23,  1897,  "  Letters  from  South  Africa,"  No.  26. 

1*  "  The  released  slaves  under  our  charge  owe  everything  to  the  mission— religion, 
education,  instruction  in  a  trade  or  profession.  There  are  growing  up  many  young 
men  who  are  skilled  handicraftsmen,  who  have  been  taught  their  trade  by  Indian  mas- 
ter^ whilst  they  lived  with  us  in  the  Mission."— Rev.  G.  M.  Lawson  (U.  M.  C.  A.), 
Zanzibar.  '  See  illustration,  Vol.  I.,  p.  134. 

»  Cmlrat  Africa,  February,  1896,  p.  28. 


m 


Native  Dciicon.of  the  rnivt-rsitics'  ^■.isM•ln,  Zanzih.;r. 

Mbweni  School  Girls,  Zanzitrar.     All  rescued  frnm  Slave-ilhi>ws. 
(Miss  r.crkeley  in  doorway,  MissC.arroU  .>ti  theri^ht  ' 

From   the  Slave-Dhow  to   Freekom   is   Christ, 
(U.  M.  C.  A.) 


I'  : 
I    I 

id 
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1H 


iA 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  Ml  SSI  OSS 


323 


to  enter  the  ministry  from  the  ranks  of  those  educated  at  this  settle- 
ment.' The  English  Friends  have  just  founded  in  Pemba  a  Mission  for 
Liberated  Slaves,  and  the  English  Methodist  Free  Churches,  the  German, 
and  the  Swedish  missionaries  have  similar  agencies  on  the  mainland. 

At  Kisserawe,  near  Dar-es-Salaam,  the  German  East  African  Mis- 
sionary Society  has  a  home  for  freed  slaves,  who  are  gathered  from 
surrounding  German  territory.  The  Evangelical  African  League  of 
Germany  has  also  selected  a  salubrious  site  in  Usambara,  East  Africa, 
where  it  intends  to  locate  a  colony  of  freedmen.  If  we  pass  on  to 
British  Central  Africa,  we  find  the  missions  of  the  Established  and  Free 
Churches  of  Scotland,  and  also  the  Universities'  Mission,  that  "  illumi- 
nating triumvirate,"  all  grappling  with  tiie  question  of  slave  education, 
which  has  been  thrust  upon  them  by  the  swift  developments  of  provi- 
dence. The  last  report  of  the  newly  established  Livingstonia  Institu- 
tion, on  the  northwest  coast  of  Lake  Nyassa,  as  given  by  Dr.  Laws,  its 
founder  and  organizer,  announces  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
pupils,  many  of  whom  had  marched  in  the  ranks  of  slave-caravans,  and 
Iiad  been  led  out  of  that  dreary  pathway  into  the  light  of  a  Christian 
home.  Dr.  Laws  writes  that  it  is  impossible  to  know  whence  some  of 
them  came,  as  "  they  were  carried  away  from  their  native  places  in  slave- 
gangs  when  very  young."  2  In  the  schools  of  the  Scotch  missions  "  may 
frequently  be  seen  rescued  slave  children  side  by  side  with  the  children 
of  their  captors,  a  singular  consummation  of  union  among  friends  and 
foes."'  At  the  Free  Church  Institution  in  Lovedale  are  classes  of 
liberated  slaves.  At  Freetown,  on  the  West  Coast,  is  Fourah  Bay  Col- 
lege, under  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  in  the  Old  Calabar 
Mission  of  the  Scotch  United  Presbyterians  similar  institutions  are  con- 
ducted. Christian  work  in  Lagos  may  be  described  as  largely  a  mis- 
sion to  slaves.  Wesleyan  missions  in  Gambia,  Sierra  Leone,  and  on 
the  Gold  Coast,  and  German  efforts  in  Togoland  and  the  Cameroons, 
are  face  to  face  with  slavery  as  a  vanishing  social  factor,  leaving  in  its 
wake  a  mighty  task  for  Christian  hearts  and  hands.  A  Swiss  society 
for  the  relief  of  African  slaves  has  been  formed,  which  will  make  Ashanti 
the  scene  of  its  operations,  where  the  Basel  missionaries  are  already 
engaged  in  the  same  benevolent  service.  In  the  Congo  Valley,  and,  in 
fact,  wherever  missionary  stations  are  located,  sooner  or  later  will  the 
touch  of  Christianity  reach  the  slave. 

1  "  General  Review  of  the  Year,"  Church  Missionary  Society,  1896-97,  p.  5. 
*  "  Report  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  .Missions,  1897,"  p.  89.     See  also 
"  Report  of  the  Livingstonia  Mission,  1897-98,"  p.  4. 

'  The  Chunk  at  Ilome  and  Abroad,  Septciuber,  1897,  p.  171. 


(I 


i 


1  If 


% 


*  \ 


S94 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Another  feature,  however,  of  the  missionary  crusade  against  slavery 

demands  our  notice ;  namely,  the  moral  pressure  which  missionaries  them- 

ThiMnrictofmiuioDt  selves  have  personally  exerted  in  moulding  public 

in  moiudioi  public      opinion  in  Christendom,  and  in  quickening  the 

opinion  in  ChriiMndom      '  ,  .         ,  i  .       r 

and  in  naiivo  native  conscience  concerning  the  moral  aspects  of 
communitiM.  ^^  institution.  It  is  to  a  notable  extent  through 
missionary  teaching  and  example  that  the  idea  of  brotherhood  based 
upon  humanity  has  been  exemplified  and  enforced.  They  have  always 
insisted  that  "  justice  should  be  color-blind,  and  ignorant  of  class  dis- 
tinctions." Their  hands  have  often  been  lifted  to  stay  the  blow  of  the 
lash,  or  to  unloose  and  destroy  instruments  of  torture.  If  government 
authorities  have  been  slow  to  recognize  the  rights  of  humanity,  mis- 
sionaries have  brought  to  bear  upon  them  whatever  inHuence  they  could 
command.  If,  as  happily  has  been  the  case  in  many  instances,  the 
civil  Government  has  instituted  a  humane  policy,  missionaries  have 
joyfully  cooperated.  One  of  the  earliest  and  most  important  illustra- 
tions of  missionary  exertions  on  behalf  of  freedom  in  Africa  was  the 
passing  of  the  Emancipation  Act  of  1 834.  As  we  have  seen  in  previous 
pages,  that  memorable  event  was  to  a  noticeable  degree  due  to  the  advo- 
cacy of  earnest  and  eloquent  missionaries  from  Jamaica.  South  Africa's 
share  in  its  results  consisted  in  the  liberation  of  neariy  thirty-six  thousand 
slaves  in  Cape  Colony,  and  an  allotment  of  about  three  million  pounds 
from  the  indemnity  of  twenty  million  pounds  voted  by  Pariiament  as 
compensation  to  colonial  slaveholders.  A  few  years  later  we  find 
Krapf  and  Rebmann  representing  the  Church  Missionary  Society  on 
the  East  Coast,  and  laying  the  foundation  of  the  steady  anti-slavery 
policy  of  its  East  African  missions.  Both  of  these  heroic  missionaries 
were  anti-slavery  pioneers  in  Eastern  Africa.* 

In  1852  Livingstone  entered  upon  his  Central  African  explorations. 
Subsequently,  in  1861,  with  the  late  Bishop  Mackenzie  and  the  late 
Rev.  Horace  Waller,  of  the  Universities'  Mission,  Dr.  John  Kirk,  and 
others,  he  conducted  an  exploring  expedition  up  the  Zambesi  to  the 

1  "  Krapf  and  Rebmann,  like  Livingstone,  were  pioneers.  Like  him,  they  saw 
little  direct  fruit  of  their  labours,  though  Rebmann  remained  in  East  Africa  for 
twenty-nine  years  (1846-75)  without  once  going  home.  The  latter  was  found  by 
Sir  Bartle  Frere,  in  1873,  at  Kisulutini,  quite  blind,  but  immersed  in  his  dictionaries 
and  translations,  and  surrounded  by  a  few  faithful  Wanika.  The  indirect  results, 
however,  of  their  work  have  been  immense,  for  they  have  led,  as  we  have  seen,  to 
all  Central  African  exploration.  Both  retired  to  live  at  Kornthal,  in  Germany; 
Rebmann  living  long  enough  to  hear  of  Stanley's '  Appeal  to  Christendom,"  written 
from  Uganda,  Krapf  even  witnessing  the  occupation  of  Ugands.  and  the  Cong'> 
Valley  by  missionaries."  -Thornton,  "  Africa  Waiting,"  p.  85. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


335 


southern  end  of  Lake  Nyassa.  The  moral  prewure  exerted  by  Living- 
stone in  his  memorable  appeals  on  behalf  of  the  African  slave  it  beyond 
all  estimate.  From  the  time  that  he  first  seized  and  cast  off  the  slave- 
sticks  from  the  necks  of  African  captives,  at  Mbame's,  on  the  borders 
of  the  Shir^  Highlands,*  until  the  day  of  his  death,  in  1873,  and  even 
to  the  present  hour,  the  telling  impact  upon  Christendom  of  his  burning 
words  and  heroic  life  has  been  immense  and  incalcubble. 

As  early  as  1854,  in  the  histor  of  the  Old  Calabar  Mission,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  attitude  of  the  native  Church  towards  converted  slaveholders, 
slaves,  and  freednen,  reached  a  crisis.  There  were  many  complica- 
tions. "  Once  a  slave,  always  a  slave,"  was  an  unwritten  law  of  society. 
Owners  had  the  power  of  life  and  death.  Society  was  composed  of 
two  classes,  slaveholders  .-^.nd  their  slaves.  The  law  took  no  cognizance 
of  free  servants.  Masters  were  not  accustomed  to  sell  their  slaves  ex- 
cept for  some  serious  crime.  If  it  was  necessary  to  get  rid  of  them, 
they  killed  them.  The  mural  alertness  of  missionary  influence  and 
changed  public  sentiment  was  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  a  declara- 
tion was  agreed  upon,  which  every  converted  slaveholder  signed  when 
admitted  to  the  Church.  Christian  civilization  has  reached  no  higher 
and  finer  coign  of  vantage  for  the  discernment  of  humane  duties  than 
is  revealed  in  that  remarkable  declaration.' 

In  the  recent  struggle  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  Zanzibar  the 
missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  the  Universities'  Mis- 
sion, and  also  those  connected  with  the  new  enter- 
prise on  behalf  of  slaves  in  Pemba,  under  the    miMionanet'towmrdt 
auspices  of  the  English  Friends,  have  almost  all   »he  probUmofiUvtry 
brought  vigorous  and  continuous  advocacy  to  bear 
in  behalf  of  decisive  action,  although  they  have  diflered  somewhat  as 
to  the  expediency  of  immediate  and  total  emancipation.     The  public 


■m 


!A 


1 


»» I 


>'*i 


>  Anderson-Morshead,  "The  History  of  the  Universities'  Mission  to  Central 
Africa,"  p.  24. 

*  The  document  referred  to  reads  as  follows :  "  Believing  that  all  men  are  en  lal 
in  the  sight  of  God,  and  that,  under  the  Gospel,  there  is  in  Christ  Jesus  nr  iier 
bond  nor  free,  I  hereby,  as  a  servant  of  Christ,  bound  to  obey  the  commands  of 
God's  Word,  promise,  in  the  sight  of  the  great  God,  my  divine  Master,  that  I  shall 
regard  those  persons  placed  under  my  care,  and  formerly  held  by  me  as  slaves,  as 
servants,  and  not  ai  property;  that  I  shall  give  them  what  is  just  and  equal  for  their 
work ;  that  I  shall  encourage  them  to  obtain  education  for  themselves  and  their  chil- 
dren, and  to  attend  on  such  means  of  religious  instruction  as  the  Church  may  lie 
able  to  aflord  them ;  that  I  shall  dispose  of  none  of  them  for  the  mere  purposes  of 
gain ;  that  I  shall  do  so  only  in  the  case  of  those  who,  being  chargeable  with  criminal 
offences,  would  be  liable  to  be  put  to  death  were  they  to  remain  in  Calabar,  and 


1.1 


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ai'o 


CUHiyriAN  MISSIOSS  AXD  SOCIAL  PKOCRESS 


utterances  and  publi»hed  letters  of  Bishop  Tucker,  which  have  appeared 
repeatedly  in  The  Times,  The  Record,  Tfie  Church  Missionary  Intelli- 
gencer, and  The  Anti- Slavery  Reporter,^  have  been  especially  forcible  and 
influential.     The  Bishop,  in  1896,  forwardeil  to  the  Consul-General  at 
Zanzibar  a  memorial  signed  by  himself  and  thirteen  of  his  associate 
missionaries  in  Uganda,  expressing  "the  very  earnest  hope  that  the 
legal  status  of  slavery  in  Mombasa,  Zanzibar,  and  Pemba  may  be  abol- 
ished without  delay  "  ;  basing  this  appeal  upon  the  undoubted  fact  that 
"  the  existence  of  a  legalised  condition  of  slavery  in  these  places  is 
more  or  less  intimately  connected  with  slave-raiding  and  trading  in  the 
interior  of  the  Continent."     This  memorial  was  forwarded  by  the 
Consul- General  to  the  Foreign  Office  in  London,  and  appears  in  one 
of  the  Government  Blue  Books.'     The  Bishop  also  recently  made  a 
test  case  in  the  Provincial  Court  at  Mombasa  in  behalf  of  a  slave  girl 
cruelly  treated,  and  secured  judgment  giving  her  freedom.     This  case  is 
important  in  several  respects.'     The  estimate  which  is  put  upon  Bishop 
Tucker's  advocacy  of  the  policy  of  abolition  may  be  inferred  from  the 
following  quotation  from  an  editorial  in   The  Record,  July  2,  1897: 
"  The  question  of  slavery  on  the  Zanzibar  coast  has  now,  mainly  owing 
lo  the  persistence  of  Bishop  Tucker,  been  placed  upon  a  better  footing." 
The  Church  Missionary  Society  itself  also  participated  in  this  campaign 
of  moral  pressure,  by  passing  a  resolution  in  December,  1896,  expres.s- 
ing  the  opinion  of  its  Committee  "that  the  ''.-ne  had  fully  arrived  to 
give  effect  to  the  long  and  definite  promise  of  the  Government  to 
abolish  the  status  of  slavery  in  the  dominion  of  tlie  Sultan  of  Zanzibar, 
including  Mombasa  and  all  the  country  within  the  ten-mile  limit,  and 

who  can  be  legally  banished  in  no  other  way ;  that  I  shall  endeavour  as  for  as  I  can 
to  secure  the  making  of  laws  to  promote  personal  freedom  ;  that,  as  soon  as  it  can 
be  done,  I  shall  legally  set  free  all  those  under  my  care ;  and  that,  in  the  meantime, 
I  shall  treat  them  with  kindness  and  equity,  it  being  my  constant  aim  to  act  upon 
the  command  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  do  unto  others  as  I  would  wish  them  to 
do  unto  me."— Dickie,  "  Story  of  the  Mission  in  Old  Calabar,"  pp.  51,  JJ. 

>  The  Times,  June  23.  1896,  April  15,  1897,  January  26  and  April  19,  1898: 
The  Record,  May  8,  1896;  The  Church  Missionary  IntelligeHcer,  August,  1898, 
p.  625  ;  The  Anti-Slavery  Reporter,  March-June,  1898,  pp.  67-82. 

»  "Africa,  No.  7,  1 896";  The  Church  Afissionrry  Inlelligetucr,  August,  1 896, 
p.  6t6.  See  also  iHd.,  February,  ll>97.  PP-  93.  94.  »nd  7'^'  Attti-Slavfry  Reporter, 
May-July,  1896,  p.  126.  In  The  Anti-Slavery  Reporter  iox  July,  1897,  and  July- 
August,  1898,  there  is  an  extensive  rtsum*  of  public  opinion  in  England,  as  revealed 
in  the  journalistic  press,  upon  the  question  of  slavery  in  Zanzibar  and  its  abolition. 

»  The  Anti-Slavery  Reporter,  March-June,  1 898,  pp.  73-82.  See  also  The 
Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  September,  1898,  pp.  678-690,  and  October, 
1898,  pp.  72«-73S- 


THE  SOCIAL  XESVLTS  OF  .V/SS/OXS 


-.i.l 


rarnestly  and  reipectfully  pressing  upon  Her  Majesty's  Government  the 
urgent  necessity  for  prompt  and  resolute  action  in  the  matter."  > 

In  British  Central  Africa  the  influence  of  missionaries  has  been 
steadily  cooperating  with  the  government  forces  in  the  magnificent 
campaign   against   the   slave-trade.     The  agents 
of  the  Universities'  Mission,  and  of  the  Scotch      Th«  i>.rt  th.y  h.v* 

,     _,  ^,        ,      ,,.     .  ,  Ukin  In  C«iitr«l  •nd 

Established   and    Free   Church    Missions,   have         i«uth  Africa, 
counted  the  contest  with  the  slave  power  as  one 
of  the  most  militant  and  pressing  of  their     s  '^n.sibilitics,  and  the  value 
of  their  moral  training  over  the  nativ    ,    \o  '.as  betn  iiecly  acknow- 

'ly,  thruu^;h 

'gents,  has 

ve  public 

th  Mata- 

J  struggles 


ledged  by  British  authorities.  The  L  dc  .Ti  ->  •»» 
the  efforts  of  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Hep',  t"  :\v<i  'h1  ■  r^  ^t  a,. 
accomplished  a  work  of  perma'-nt  i  i  i'.  (-<l  K.itin.^  !■ 
sentiment  among  the  Bamangv;..t.  '  tiu,  /Jif .  ni,  i-i 
beleland.  Mr.  Hepburn  repea''l  y  •<^i  'o  ji  ' ;  ■'■  'les 
to  overcome  the  cruelties  of  si  .'-r  ,  ai  I  lo  cr.e  can  it  al  his  accounts 
without  being  impressed  with  his  ''icc  s  'u  '<;.»  hiny  ti»  ■  native  con- 
science and  creating  a  reversal  of  iimiern  nia'.  cu:  >  •  xnd  a  revolution 
in  public  opinion,  wherever  his  strong  ■><"'-  ...;  uilioi nt  >  was  felt.  In 
speaking  of  his  pleadings  with  the  Bama.  ,  . .  •> ,  tiic  subject  of  sla- 
very, he  says :  "  Well  does  the  day  stand  out  when  in  my  Bible  class  I 
remonstrated  with  a  prominent  member  of  my  church,  who  maintained 
that  Masarwa  were  not  people,  but  were  only  dogs  without  souls.  Has 
that  day  passed  forever?  Shall  it  nevermore  return?  Has  eternity 
fallen  on  it  to  draw  over  it  the  screen  of  its  own  eternal  silence?  Then 
what  estimate  shall  that  trifle  be  valued  at,  and  what  angel  of  God  is 
equal  to  the  calculation?  Let  it  go  down  as  one  of  the  trifles  of 
Christian  missions ;  yet,  as  I  have  said,  it  made  my  glad  heart  sing."  - 
Khama,  the  Chief  of  the  Bamangwato,  a  Christian  convert  and  friend 
of  Mr.  Hepburn,  was  of  one  mind  with  him  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
Mr.  Hepburn's  appeals  to  the  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society  were  not  without  avail.  He  spent  his  life  in  an  atmot  lere 
which  was  fairly  stifling  with  the  moral  disorders  and  sicV  ing 
atrocities  of  African  slavery,  but  he  left  his  impress  in  changed  lives 
and  new  impulses  pervading  the  native  society  where  he  had  lived.' 

>  "  Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1897,"  pp.  66,  67. 

*  Hepburn,  "  Twenty  Years  in  Khama's  Country,"  p.  266. 

'  The  following  extract  will  give  a  glimpse  of  the  spirit  in  which  he  toiled :  "  The 
next  morning,  Sunday,  May  !st,  I  discoursed  on  the  (jreat  mercy  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesui,  dwelling  upon  it  at  length,  until  I  felt  that  the  hearts  of  the  people  had 
warmed  to  it,  and  then  I  contrasted  it  with  cruelty  in  whatever  form,  and  especially 


» 


% 


' 


328  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

To  the  northwest  of  Mr.  Hepburn's  sphere  of  service,  in  the  valley 

(if  the  Upper  Zambesi,  among  the  degraded  Barotsi  tribes,  is  the  scene 

of  the  life-labors  of  the  Rev.  F.  Coillard,  of  the 

championa  of  frttdom    French  Evangelical  Society,  who  describes  slavery 

'«S'S'v.'uJl."    as  "at  the  very  foundation  of  the  social  edifice" 

of  African  communities  in  that  section.    The  truth 

of  this  statement  is  illustrated  by  the  singular  fact  that  even  the  Barotsi 

children  would  bring  their  slaves  with  them  to  the  mission  school. 

The  complications  resulting  from  this  curious  situation  were  both 

amusing  and  startling.     The  tact  and  ingenuity  of  the  good  French 

missionary  and  his  wife  were  abundantly  exercised  in  trjing  to  do 

good  to  the  slaves  as  well  as  the  masters,  without  at  the  same  time 

breaking  the  strict  code  of  etiquette,  and  thereby  incurring  some  real 

danger.' 

In  the  valley  of  the  Congo  the  missionaries  of  different  societies  have 
striven  to  make  some  headway  in  overcoming  native  customs  and 
changing  public  opinions  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  natives 
have  come  to  look  upon  these  good  men  as  champions  of  humanity  and 
freedom.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  from  Mr.  Gilchrist,  of 
the  Congo-Balolo  Mission  at  Lulanga,  gives  us  an  insight  into  what  is 


« 


I  t 
I 


N 


I 


s 


denounced  cruelty  to  their  wives,  who  were  their  equals,  to  their  children,  who  were 
their  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  to  their  slaves,  who  bors  God's  image,  and  (or  whom 
Christ  died  equally  with  themselves  ;  and  I  pointed  out  the  injustice  of  t:iking  the 
bones  and  flesh,  the  marrow  and  sinews  which  God  had  given  to  another  man,  and 
using  them  as  if  they  were  their  own,  without  any  payment  in  return.  I  did  not 
speak  mincingly,  and  I  did  not  spare  the  Batauana  slaveholders;  but  I  did  not 
forpet  that  there  was  another  side  of  the  question  to  be  considered,  and  as  I  knew 
that  I  had  a  large  number  of  Bakoba  slaves  hearing  me,  I  told  them  I  should  return 
to  the  subject  in  the  afternoon,  and  that  I  had  a  word  specially  for  thera."-Hep- 
burn,  "Twenty  Years  in  Khama's  Country,"  pp.  19O1  "gj- 

1  In  his  volume,  "  On  the  Threshold  of  Central  Africa,"  M.  Coillard  writes 
(p.  286):  "  Each  of  our  little  people  has  come  with  a  number  of  slaves,  more  or 
less ;  some  of  these  attend  school,  and  place  themselves  behind  their  masters.  But 
we  have  not  yet  arrived  at  making  them  understand  that  the  teaching  is  for  them 
too." 

An  incident  related  in  another  connection  gives  rather  a  startling  emphasis  to  the 
possible  results  of  clashing  with  the  terrific  etiquette  of  African  society.  The  author 
states :  "  We  could  have  returned  to  Sefula  with  a  number  of  young  girls,  if  we  had 
wished,  and  had  been  able  to  do  so.  But  how  could  we  resist  the  entreaties  of  the 
king,  who  besought  us  at  least  to  receive  his  own  daughter,  Mpololoa.  :i  nice  cliiM 
of  ten  or  eleven?  We  ended  by  consenting,  on  condition  'hat  she  should  come  quite 
alone,  without  slaves,  and  should  be  entirely  left  to  our  discretion.    Instead  of  one. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


890 


meant  by  this  humane  championship  of  the  missionary  on  behalf  of 
.V.aves :  "  The  news  came  to  me  just  in  the  nick  of  time  that  the  chief 
had  sent  a  slave  across  the  river  to  a  cannibal  town,  to  be  killed  and 
eaten,  on  account  of  his  ailments.  I  at  once  set  out  for  the  place ; 
most  of  the  people  made  for  the  bush,  but  to  the  few  who  remained  I 
f^ave  directions  to  have  the  man  brought  at  once  before  me  at  our 
station.  Next  day  they  presented  him.  His  story  made  me  shudder, 
as  also  the  sight  of  his  hands  and  arms,  which  were  in  a  fearful  state, 
preparatory  to  his  being  killed  and  eaten.  He  said  they  had  put  him 
into  the  execution  chair  the  previous  day,  but,  finding  they  had  no  salt 
to  cat  with  him,  delayed  killing  him  for  two  days.  Before  execution 
the  arm,  wrist,  and  thumb  are  compressed  between  two  pieces  of  wood, 
firmly  tied,  and  left  until  the  pain  becomes  excruciating ;  the  victim  is 
then  ready  for  decapitation.  Needless  to  say,  I  assured  the  poor  fellow 
that  he  could  sit  down  with  perfect  safety  on  our  place,  and  that  his 
master  had  henceforth  no  claim  on  him.  '  Ah,  if  it  were  not  for  you,* 
often  exclaim  the  men  and  boys  of  the  station,  and  the  slaves  in  the 
town—'  if  it  were  not  for  you,  Mttiidele  Ini^ltsc,  some  of  us  would  have 
ournecks  cut!  We  don't  want  you  to  go  away.' "  i  The  Rev.  James 
Johnston,  in  a  chapter  on  "  Missionary  Advance  up  the  Congo  Water- 
way," refers  to  this  aspect  of  missionary  service  as  follows:  "In 
speeding  the  daybreak  of  emancipation  on  the  Congo  and  its  tribu- 
taries, glorious  deeds  have  been  wrought  by  the  American  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Union,  the  Swedish  Society,  the  Congo-Balolo  Mission,  the 
English  Baptists,  and  the  co-workers  with  the  apostolic  William  Tay- 
lor, whose  respective  ensigns  and  missionaries  have  alleviated  sorrow. 


three  came,  and  with  a  suite  of  slaves  suitable  to  their  rank.     '  What!'  the  princess 
Katoka  had  exclaimed,  '  let  our  children  go  to  Sefula  without  slaves?     Never !'     In 
vain  we  sent  them  back ;  some  persistently  remained,  '  lying  low '  at  Litia's  and  ap- 
pcarinp  now  and  then.     We  had  to  m.ike  i»n  exception  in  favour  of  two  little  slaves 
<if  the  same  age  as  the  king's  children,  who  share  their  amusements  ami  come  to 
school;  and  one  other  exception  for  Sanana's  nurse,  who  has  never  left  her." 
In  a  foot-note  to  the  above  we  find  the  following  tragic  illustration  ricordcil: 
"  The  training  of  these  young  ,  eople  was  no  easy  matter,  since  the  sanctity  of 
their  persons  was  such  that  it  was  not  permitte'.  liU-raUy  tt>  lay  a  fmpcr  on  them. 
One  day,  while  some  buihling  was  going  on  at  the  station,  a  serf,  running  rouml 
the  corner  with  a  bundle  of  th.-itch  in  his  arms,  met  the  kin<;'s  little  daughter,  who 
was  running  in  the  contrary  ilirection,  .ind  by  accident  the  tip  of  a  reed  brushed  her 
eye.     In  an  hour's  time,  before  M.  Coillard  had  even  heard  i>f  tlic  occurrence,  the 
man  was  dead,  executed  by  the  child's  attendants."  — /i*/</.,  pp.  334,  335. 
I  Regions  Beyond,  February,  1894,  p.  83, 


S  : 


1 


330  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

lessened  cruelty,  dispelled  ignorance,  broken  slave-chains,  conquered 
paganism,  and  triumphantly  uplifted  the  Cross  of  Christ."  ^ 

The  recent  notable  action  of  Sir  George  T.  Goldie,  on  behalf  of  the 

Royal  Niger  Company,  in  abolishing  slavery  in  the  Company's  terri- 

tories,  is  a  bold  stroke  for  which  full  credit  is  due  to 

'o'X"'„rr?:g:nu     this  noWe  British  official.     The  author  is  not  able 

in  Nigeria  and         to  throw  any  light  upon  the  matter,  but  he  ventures 
Madagascar.  ^^  suggest  that  it  would  be  an  interesting  study  to 

ascertain  what  part  the  moral  influence  of  mission  work  in  the  Niger 
Protectorate  has  had  in  cooperating  to  bring  about  this  consummation. 
In  connection  with  the  cessation  of  slavery  in  Madagascar,  the  Rev. 
W.  E.  Cousins  writes :  "  The  acceptance  of  Christianity  has  done  much 
in  later  years  to  prepare  the  way  for  abolition.     The  Church  recognized 
no  distinction   between  slaves  and  others,  free  children  and   slave 
children  being  taught  in  the  same  schools.     A  slave  might  even  become 
a  pastor,  or  preacher,  or  deacon,  in  the  church  of  which  his  owner  was 
a  member."  -     While  this  is  true,  Madagascar  has  been  somewhat  slow 
in  accepting  the  Christian  view   of  slavery.     Progress,  however,  has 
been  made  in  the  right  direction  under  the  steady  pressure  of  Gospel 
principles,  as  is  manifest  in  an  incident  related  by  one  of  the  agents  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society.     In  the  year  1876  a  missionary  ven- 
tured to  speak  on  the  subject  of  emancipation,  but  his  remarks  were 
not  received  with  favor.     In  1893,  however,  the  Rev.  R.  Baron  took 
occasion,  in  his  address  as  Chairman  of  the  Congregational  Union  in 
that  island,  to  advocate  earnestly  the  policy  of  emancipation.     Another 
spirit  was  apparent  in  the  reception  given  to  this  appeal.     He  put  the 
matter  before  them  in  the  following  effective   way:   "All  Christian 
nations,"  he  said,  "have  now  abolished  slavery— except— except— "  ami 
after  a  pause  he  added,  in  a  kind  of  stage-whisper,  and  with  both  hands 
to  his  mouth-"  except  you  in  Madaga.scar."     His  discourse  was  wisely 
conceived,  and  he  insisted  that  slavery  must  in  the  end  disappear  before 
the  progress  of  Christ's  kingdom.^     It  is  not  surprising  that  the  reluc- 
tance of  the  Christian  churches  in  Madagascar  to  discharge  their  full  duty 
in  this  matter  should  have  been  sharply  criticized  by  Dr.  Cust<  and  others, 
but  it  is  sufficiently  obvious  that  this  reluctance  has  been  exceptional, 
and  is  out  of  sympathy  with  the  true  and  universal  spirit  of  missions. 

>  Johnston,  "  Missionary  Landscapes  in  the  Dark  Continent,"  pp.  195.  '9^'- 
2   Thf  Afissi.mary  K'rfinv  cfth,-  UWU,  .\pril,  1897,  p.  285. 
•   The  Chrcnidt.  January,  1894,  p.  19. 

«  Cust,  "  Notes  on  Missionary  Subjects,"  Part  II.,  pp.  aS.  47  i  The  Anti-Slaieyy 
Rfporler,  August-October,  1897,  p.  229. 


I   '41 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


331 


Still  another  phase  of  the  results  which  have  followed  the  moral 
crusade  of  missions  against  tliis  evil  remains  to  be  noted.     It  is  the 
responsiv  action   of   the   native  conscience   in 
deference  to  the  instruction  of  missionaries  con-  native  conKUnww  the 
ceming  the  true  attitude  of  Christians  to  slavery,    •nti-iiavery  influence 
An  illustration  of  this  is  presented  in  that  remark-  °  '"'■"'*"'•• 

able  declaration  signed  by  forty  native  chiefs  in  Uganda,  in  1893,  who 
voluntarily,  after  they  had  become  Protestant  converts,  determined 
wholly  to  abolish  domestic  slavery.  Their  brief  statement  is  a  unique 
document  in  the  history  of  missions  and  in  the  annals  of  human  free- 
("om.  It  reads  as  follows :  "  All  we  Protestant  chiefs  wish  to  adopt 
these  good  customs  of  freedom.  We  agree  to  untie  and  free  completely 
all  our  slaves.  Here  are  our  names  as  chiefs."  How  simple,  how  sug- 
gestive, how  dramatic,  is  this  noble  act!  It  would  seem  as  if  nothing 
further  was  necessary  to  vindicate  the  weighty  protest  which  the  Gospel, 
when  honestly,  sincerely,  and  conscientiously  received,  brings  to  bear 
in  opposition  to  slavery.^  A  similar  and  hardly  less  remarkable  incident 
is  reported  by  the  Rev.  A.  G.  MacAlpine,  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land Mission  at  Bandaw^,  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Nyassa.  An 
account  of  it  will  be  found  in  the  foot-note  on  p.  215  of  this  volume. 

In  Mr.  Hepburn's  narrative  of  his  work  are  several  accounts  of 
native  Christians  having  hberated  their  slaves,  as  a  matter  of  con- 

1  The  Chunk  Missionary  IntetUgenctr,  August,  1893,  p.  606. 

The  full  significance  of  this  action  is  explained  by  liishup  Tucker  in  one  of  his 
letters  concerning  it :  "  It  may  be  asked,  How  will  the  slaves  themselves  be  affected 
by  this  measure?  First  of  all,  there  will  be  no  more  bartering  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  like  so  many  cattle.  The  buying  and  selling  of  human  beings  will  forever 
come  to  an  end  (I  wonder  what  the  opponents  of  the  retention  of  Uganda  will  say  to 
this!).  Again,  one  of  the  great  incentives  to  war  will  be  removed.  At  present  one 
of  the  chief  inducements  for  one  Central  African  tribe  to  wage  war  with  another  is 
the  hope  of  capturing  slaves.  This  will  no  longer  operate  in  Uganda,  shouM  this 
measure  be  adopted.  People  need  not  fear  that  a  large  number  of  destitute  freed 
slaves  will  I*  wandering  about  the  country  « ithout  mean>  of  subsistence.  On  being 
freed  by  their  masters  they  will  naturally  take  the  place  of  the  Aj/f^//,  i.e.,  free 
men  who  hold  their  land  on  a  service  tenure.  Happily  there  is  plenty  of  land  unoc- 
cupied,  and  it  only  needs  to  be  taken  up  an<?  ,  ultivate.l,  and  at  once  there  will  be 
employment  for  the  slaves  and  an  increase  in  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  Which- 
ever way  the  matter  is  looked  at,  there  seems  to  be  nothing  but  good  that  is  likely 
to  be  the  outcome,  whether  it  be  for  the  slaves  themselves  or  their  masters.  Then 
the  effect  on  the  nations  and  tribes  around  will  be  great.  It  will  soon  be  noised 
abroad  that  the  Waganda  have  declared  for  freedom,  and  a  yearning  ior  the  same 
blessing  will  take  possession  of  many  a  downtrodden  soul.  The  movement  has 
begun,  Md  none,  thank  God,  can  stay  it.  The  Gospel  has  not  lost  its  ancient 
power."— T",*^  Church  Missionary  Inttlligtnctr,  October,  1893,  p.  757. 


m 


,l»l 


i   }■ 


i  J 


332 


science. 


a/KISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

^^.>.....'  Other  instances  are  on  record  of  converts,  in  defiance  of  all 
tradition,  undertaking,  in  a  spirit  of  Christian  love,  evangelistic  work 
among  slaves,  or,  as  owners,  granting  them  their 

Jcoril^Xr/na    freedom.    An  incident  reported  by  Dr.  A.  Watson. 

evanieiiiti  to  tho»«  In  of  Egypt,  finely  illustrates  this  statement.-  The  lib- 
•uvery.  ^^^^^^  ^j^^.^^  ^j  Jamaica  originated  a  project  of  mis- 

sions among  African  slaves,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Cam- 
eroons  Mission  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  of  England,  afterwards 
transferred  to  the  Congo.  When  these  Jamaica  freedmen,  who  had  been 
kidnapped  from  the  West  African  coast,  were  desirous  of  carrying  the 
Gospel  to  the  heathen  lands  whence  they  had  been  taken,  it  was  sug- 
gested to  them  that  it  was  a  perilous  undertaking  and  might  result  in 

1  Hepburn,  "  Twenty  Years  in  Khama's  Country,"  pp.  95.  '66,  167. 

Dr.  Laws,  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotlan.l  Mission,  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Nyassa,  reports  an  incident  which  may  be  quoted  in  further  illustration.  "  Slavery 
and  the  slave  trade."  he  writes.  "  .ire,  or  were,  prominent  features  of  heathen  hf.- 
in  this  country.  Political  changes  are  striking  at  the  latter  by  suppression,  but 
don.estic  slavery  can  be  abolished  only  by  the  effect  of  the  Gospel.  As  an  exami^k- 
of  what  I  have  seen,  I  may  mention  the  case  of  a  poor  half-paralyzed  slave  I  saw  in 
Angoniland,  lying  on  a  dunghill  in  want  and  nakedness,  spurned  by  all,  and  cr.. 
sidered  useless  by  his  master.  The  grace  of  God  changed  the  heart  of  that  master 
and  his  brothers,  and  the  poor  slave  was  no  longer  treated  as  an  ousted  cur  whos, 
days  of  usefulness  were  done,  but  taken  in  and  fed.  and  cared  for  as  one  of  the 

family." 

a  "  When  our  mission  began,  in  1854.  the  number  of  slaves  in  Egypt  must  have 

been  great.      Almost  eve-y  family,  Moslem,  Christian,  or  Jewish,  able  to  purchase 

a  slave,  had  either  one  or  nore.     The  influence  of  Christian  missions  in  Egypt  has 

been  opposed  to  this  institution,  and  while  other  agencies  have  helped  to  restrict 

trade  in  human  chattels,  still  the  chief  factor  in  creating  a  public  opmion.  on  the 

basis  of  intelligence  instead  of  force,  h.->s  been  Christian  missions.     Not  a  few  slaves 

have  been  freed  by  our  own  members,  as  it  was  one  of  the  principles  of  our  church 

not  to  receive  slaveholders  to  membership.     In  one  case,  perhaps  twenty  years  a^;.., 

1  was  appointed  by  our  native  presbytery  t )  examine  an  elder  elect  for  ordinal,,  n, 

and  in  .lomg  so  it  appeared  that  he  owned  aslave.     I  told  him  that  this  was  a ser.. us 

objecti  n.     He  had  never  thought  on  the  subject  before.     I  talked  over  the  man.r 

with  h'm  in  a  brotherly  manner,  an.l  he  heard  all  I  ha<l  to  say,  and  then  rephe  1 

that  he  would  think  about  it,  and  give  me  a  reply  the  next  morning.     On  meet.,,,; 

with  him  next  day.  he  said  it  appeared  now  to  him  that  it  was  contrary  to  the  -i-iu 

of  .he  Gospel  to  hold  slaves,  and  that  he  would  in  the  evening  announce  bef.  re  tl;r 

assembled  congregation  that  his  faithful  servant  was  no  longer  his  slave.     Tlu«  1  ■• 

did,  saying  'hat  the  man  was  free  to  go  or  stay.     Having  been  well  treated  by  1  - 

master,  he  remained  with  him  as  a  son,  and  when  the  elder  died,  a  few  years  a  !•  •. 

the  former  slave  took  his  master's  place  as  leader  in  the  congregation,  and  is  1:  « 

one  of  our  local  preachers. "-Rev.  Andrew  Watson,  D.D.  (U.  P.  C.  N.  A.),  tuao, 

Egypt. 


THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


333 


their  being  enslaved  again.     They  answered :  "  We  have  been  made 

slaves  for  men ;  we  can  be  made  slaves  for  Christ."  * 

The  Roman  CathoHc  Church  has  participated  heartily  in  this  effort 

to  alleviate  African  slavery.     The  campaign  of  Cardinal  Lavigerie 

among  the  European  churches  of  that  communion 

was  producing  hopeful  results  when  interrupted  by    '•'•'•  *«»«>'•"«  •ffort* 
,.     ,  J    J     ..        T.       ..  »  J    r.       1  <•    of  the  Roman  Catholic 

his  lamented  death.     1  he      Armed  Brothers  of  church. 

the  Sahara,"  and  the  "  White  Teachers,"  represent 
organized  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Roman  Cathohc  Church  to  break 
up  the  slave-trade  and  extend  a  helping  hand  to  Africans  freed  from 
slavery.  This  humanitarian  service  on  the  part  of  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries  is  not  only  worthy  of  admiration,  but  serves  as  a  modern 
offset  to  the  unhappy  historical  notoriety  of  Bishop  Bartolom^  dc  las 
Casas,  who  first  suggested,  in  151 7,  to  the  Spanish  King  Charles,  the 
importation  of  Negro  slaves  from  Africa  to  Hispaniola  (Hayti),  thereby 
encouraging,  if  he  did  not  inaugurate,  the  awful  slave-traffic  of  suc- 
ceeding centuries,  which  makes  such  a  dismal  chapter  in  the  history 
of  the  human  race.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  ihat  Las  Casas 
subsequently  recognized  with  extreme  regret  the  grave  nature  of  his 
mistake,  and  did  what  he  could  to  atone  for  his  lamentable  error.^ 
No  candid  reader  of  these  facts  will  be  likely  to  question  the  prominent 
part  which  Christian  mis.sions  have  taken  in  the  emancipation  of  Africa. 
Slavery  was  a  well-known  fact  in  British  India  until  1843,  when 
its  legal  status  was  abolished  by  the  British  authorities.^  The  direct 
appeals  of  missions  may  have  had  little  to  do  with 
this  event,  but  we  can  di^cover  the  undoubted  The  abolition  of  »i«vefy 
sympathy  of  missionaries  with  the  purpose  of  the  *"  ''"•••• 

Act  from  the  fact  of  the  inauguration  at  that  early 
date,  in  South  India,  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Lechler  and  his  wife,  of  the 

1  "  The  Centenary  Volume  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,"  p.  156. 

'  Ingram,  "  History  of  Sla.very,"  pp.  143-145. 

'  The  legality  of  -laveholJing  came  to  an  end  when  the  Council  of  India  passed, 
with  the  assent  of  the  Governcr-General,  what  is  known  as  "  Act  No.  V.  of  1843," 
on  April  7th  of  that  year.     1  he  text  is  as  follows  : 

"  An  Act  (or  declaring  and  amending  tl.e  I..iw  regarding  the  condition  of  Slavery 
within  the  territories  of  the  East  India  Company. 

'I.  It  is  hereby  enacted  and  declared  that  no  public  officer  shall,  in  execution 
of  any  decree  or  order  of  Court,  or  for  the  enforcement  of  any  demand  of  rent 
or  icvenuc,  sell  or  cause  to  be  sold  any  person,  or  the  right  to  the  compulsory 
labour  or  services  of  any  perbon,  on  the  ground  that  such  person  is  in  a  state  of 
Slavery. 

"  II.  And  it  is  hereby  declared  and  enacted  that  no  rights  arising  out  of  an 
alleged  property  in  the  person  and  services  of  another  as  a  Slave  shall  be  enforced 


4! 


i  i 


«  i   i    ; 


334  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

London  Missionar)'  Society,  of "  a  philanthropic  society  for  purchasing 
the  freedom  of  slaves." »  In  that  caste-ridden  country  the  false  views 
of  society,  illustrated  by  slavery,  were  deeply  lodged  in  social  theory  and 
practice,  and  have  been  slow  to  yield  to  higher  principles.  Missions 
have  been  a  great  and  aggressive  power  in  educating  public  sentiment, 
and  in  gradually  undermining  and  weakening  the  artificial  barriers 
which  caste  and  slavery  have  erected.  The  prostrate  classes  are  begin- 
ning to  rise ;  the  spirit  of  human  lordship  is  not  so  assertive  as  it  was ; 
a  consciousness  of  self-respect  is  springing  up  in  downcast  hearts; 
education  is  spreading  among  all  sections  of  society,  while  equahty  be- 
fore the  law  has  become  an  unquestioned  fact.  A  philanthropic  con- 
ception of  not  only  the  possibility,  but  also  the  justice  and  duty,  of 
relief  to  humanity  as  such,  in  its  hours  of  need,  has  forced  its  way  mto 
the  higher  life  of  India.  .      . 

Slavery  for  debt,  and  what  is  known  as  labor  slavery,  having  in 
them  a  voluntary  element,  are  not  reached  by  government  regulations 
in  any  effective  way.     The  relationship  which  is 
He    miitionarie*  art    gjjtablished  by  debt  amounts  to  a  state  of  serfdom, 
"*  "•  Jho..^in  .i.v.ry  ^^^^^^^^^  involving  whole  families ;  for  while  there 
is  no  actual  purchase  or  sale,  yet  the  authority 
,»^    «  person  is  not  virtually  different  from  that  involved  in  domestic 
sia->ry      The  iniluence  of  missions  in  mitigating  this  state  of  things  is 
not  ^  '  -nanifest,  but  nevertheless  it  is  real.     Dr.  L.  L.  Uhl,  a  Lutheran 
mi-      ary  at  Guntur,  India,  writes  that  Christianity,  by  the  develop- 
me.u   of  ma  hood,  the  spread  of  education,  and  the  practical  help 
which  misf.-oriries  can  secure,  "is  bringing  reUef  to  the  serfs,  and 
graduJly  removing  labor  slavery."     The  same  may  be  said  with  refer- 
ence to  missionary  influence  in  Assam.     An  illustration  of  this  is  given 
by  the  Rev.  Robert  Evans,  of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  Mission, 

by  any  Civil  or  Criminal  Court  or  magistrate  wichin  the  territories  of  the  East  India 

^""^MM  And  it  is  hereby  declared  and  enacted  that  no  person  who  may  have 
acquired  property  by  his  own  industry,  or  by  the  exercise  of  any  art,  calhng  or 
profession,  or  by  inheritance,  assignment,  gift,  or  bequest,  shall  be  dispossessed  of 
such  property  or  prevented  from  taking  possession  thereof  on  the  ground  that  such 
person,  or  that  the  person  from  whom  the  property  may  have  been  derived,  was  a 

^'^'iV  And  it  is  hereby  enacted  that  any  act  which  would  be  a  penal  offence  if 
done  to  a  free  man  shall  be  equally  an  offence  if  done  to  any  person  on  the  pretext 
of  his  being  in  a  condition  of  Slavery.  "-T-A.  Indian  Evangelnal  Rcvtew,  January. 

1897,  p.  302. 

1  Tht  CkronicU,  June,  1896,  p.  ia4- 


1  1 


fi  I ' 


THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS   OF  M/SS/OXS 


335 


1 


who  has  interested  himself  in  seeking  to  put  an  end  to  the  indefinite 
prolongation  of  the  term  of  service  in  the  case  of  debt  slavery.  He 
writes :  "  After  I  began  to  be  known,  some  of  the  slaves  who  were  very 
cruelly  treated  by  their  masters  came  to  tell  me  their  trouble.  When 
I  was  sure  of  a  genuine  case  of  ill-treatment,  I  would  urge  the  slave  to 
sue  his  master  before  the  British  Government,  and  would  promise  to 
back  him.  We  brought  some  cases  from  different  neighborhoods 
before  the  court,  and  urged  the  magistrate  to  fix  upon  a  certain  num- 
ber of  years  for  service,  at  the  end  of  which  the  slave  would  be  free. 
It  soon  became  known  throughout  the  country,  and  in  this  way  many 
have  been  set  free  who  would  otherwise  have  been  slaves  all  their  lives 
long.  The  system  is  still  far  from  being  done  away  with,  but  the 
masters  know  that  if  they  are  cruel  to  their  slaves  they  cannot  retain 
them  under  those  conditions.  They  must  be  kind  to  them.  In  this 
way  Christianity  has  made  a  wonderful  difference  in  the  treatment  of 
such  people  throughout  the  country."  The  value  of  this  change  in  the 
possible  fortunes  of  one  in  the  clutches  of  debt  siavery  is  evident  from 
the  fact  that  in  some  instances  a  man  has  been  kept  in  practical 
bondage  for  years  by  an  arrears  of  not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty 
dollars,  without  in  the  meantime  reducing  in  the  least  the  amount  of  his 
indebtedness.  The  British  Government  has,  of  course,  abolished  the 
status  of  slavery  in  Assam  and  Burma. 

"  In  Siam,"  writes  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Dodd,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sion in  Laos,  "  human  slaver)'  has  been  much  mitigated  by  the  coming 
of  Christianity.     In  the  portion  of  the  Lao  coun- 
try in  which  we  have  our  mission  work  established.    Servitude  in  Si«m  and 

,  ,  .,  „.  _       „.  '        China  abolithed  in 

the  people  are  tributary  to  Siam.  The  King  of  chri.tian  communities. 
Siam  has  become  so  influenced  by  contact  with 
the  missionaries  and  with  Christian  people  and  Christian  nations  that 
he  is  making  an  effort  towards  the  gradual  abolition  of  slaven,*  for  debt. 
This,  in  addition  to  what  the  missionaries  have  been  able  to  do  towards 
creating  a  public  sentiment,  both  by  precept  and  example,  in  favor  of 
freeing  those  who  are  in  servitude,  has  largely  mitigated  the  condition 
of  slaves  for  debt  in  very  many  places,  and  it  has  almost  entirely 
aboUshed  slavery  among  those  who  profess  Christianity." 

Again,  in  China,  where  domestic  slavery  usually  takes  the  form  of 
concubinage,  "  Christianity,"  writes  the  Rev.  J.  Macgowan  (L.  M.  S.), 
of  Amoy,  "  is  the  only  power  that  speaks  out  definitely  and  decisively 
on  this  subject.  It  says  slavery  is  wrong,  and  must  not  be  tolerated. 
It  will  listen  to  no  excuses.  The  voice  of  tradition  and  the  pleadings 
of  custom  are  unheard,  and  it  says  sternly  that  it  will  have  no  tamper- 


*l 


; ;  I 


II 


336  Clfk/.STUX  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  FROCRESS 

ing  with  the  liberty  of  the  person,  and  that  it  will  r.ever  consent  to  the 
extinguishing  of  the  natural  affection  which  God  has  implanted  in  the 
human  heart,  both  for  the  comfort  of  the  children,  and  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  nature  of  the  parents.  Many  of  these  enslaved  women 
have  been  delivered  by  Christianity." 

Mr.  Macgowan  relates  the  following  incident  to  illustrate  the  above 
statement :  "  Many  years  ago  a  man  became  a  Christian.  All  the  rest 
of  his  family  were  opposed  to  this  step.  Besides  his  wife  and  several 
sons  he  had  a  slave  who  acted  as  a  concubine.  Both  husband  and  wife 
were  fond  of  her.  She  was  a  clever,  executive  woman,  who  managed 
the  business  of  the  household  with  great  abiUty.  When  the  man  asked 
for  baptism,  he  was  told  that  before  his  recjuest  could  be  complied  with 
he  must  give  his  slave  woman  freedom,  and  be  content  to  live  alone 
with  his  wife.  He  was  ready  for  any  sacrifice,  but  the  two  women 
were  not.  The  wife  would  not  part  with  her  servant,  neither  would  the 
latter  part  with  her  master.  At  length  the  slave,  seeing  the  determina- 
tion of  the  man  to  live  according  to  Scripture  teaching,  gave  her  con- 
sent. A  young  man  of  unblemished  character  was  obtained,  who  was 
willing  to  marry  her ;  one  of  the  sons  was  handed  over  to  her,  and  a 
present  of  money,  and  one  fine  day  she  was  transformed  from  being  a 
slave  into  a  respectable  woman  and  a  wife.  After  a  time  she  became 
an  earnest  Christian,  and  for  many  years  she  has  been  a  deaconess  in 
the  church  to  which  she  belongs."  ^ 


1  In  shocking  contrast  to  the  above  is  the  following  statement  illustrating  the 
awful  possibilities  of  slave  life  in  China.  The  Rev.  J.  Walter  Lowrie  writes, 
from  Paotingfu,  in  March,  1897,  in  a  private  Utter  to  the  author,  of  an  event 
which  had  occurred  at  that  place  during  the  week  previous  to  his  writing.  He  states 
that  "  while  the  bearers  of  a  coffin  were  proceeding  through  the  streets  to  the  potter\ 
field,  accompanied  by  the  family  servant  of  sn  official,  from  whose  house  the  coiruitd 
remains  were  brought,  they  distinctly  perceived  a  movement  within  the  cofrm,  uii>l 
insisted  upon  stopping  for  an  examination,  saying  that  they  had  been  hired  to  bury 
a  dead  person,  and  objected  to  burying  a  living  one.  The  ofTicial's  servant  strenu 
ously  objected,  and  only  deepened  the  suspicions  of  the  bearers  by  the  nervou, 
anxiety  which  he  exhibited.  The  party  wert  soon  surrounded  by  a  crowd,  hunger 
jhg  for  some  new  thing.  The  box  was  opened,  and  the  form  of  a  slave  girl  about 
seventeen  years  of  age  was  disclosed.  She  was  still  living,  but  was  rendered  specUi 
less  by  the  fact  that  her  tongue  had  been  literally  pulled  out  by  the  roots.  It  soeii.^ 
that  she  had  attempted  suicide  by  hanging,  in  order  to  escape  her  owner's  cruelty. 
but  had  been  cut  down,  and  out  of  revenge  had  been  thus  horribly  mutilated,  an  i 
was  about  to  be  buried  alive.  She  .urvive<l  but  a  few  days.  As  she  was  only  ./ 
slave  girl,  the  opinion  here  is  that  nothing  will  be  done  by  the  magistrates  towar.U 
the  punishment  of  the  criiniuals.  The  whole  city  is  familiar  with  the  names  of  all 
the  parties  concerned." 


THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  Ml  SSI  OS'S 


33: 


In  Korea,  where  missions  have  not  been  long  estahh'iiiied,  little  has 
been  done  directly  by  Christian  agencies  to  uproot  slavery.     In  con- 
nection with  the  recent  political  reconstruction  ii 
was  nominally  abolished,  although  the  decree  is     TiwfrtwthofpubUc 

...  V.       ,  .1  ■•ntimtnt  ia  Kara* 

said  to  be  entirely  meffective.  Bondage  in  the  mgainat  sUvary. 
form  of  serfdom  rather  than  slavery  has  existed  for 
centuries,  but  it  has  of  late  been  less  prev:iient  than  formerly.  The 
great  majority  of  the  slaves  are  women.'  Tlw  subject  of  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  brought  into  view  as  a  humane  ideal  of  Christianity,  has 
enlisted  the  sympathy  of  men  of  prominence  and  wealth,  some  of 
whom  have  voluntarily  freed  their  slaves.  Tlie  Independence  Club, 
an  organization  of  high  social  standing  in  Seoul,  recently  declared 
unanimously  against  servitude,  and  voted  to  exert  its  influence  in 
securing  freedom  to  those  in  bondage.  The  Vice-Preuident,  the 
Hon.  Yi  Wan  Yong,  manifested  his  sincerity  in  advocating  the  emanci- 
pation of  slaves  in  Korea  by  his  own  example  in  manumitting  thirty- 
one  bondmen  whom  he  had  previously  owiied.- 

Thus,  wherever  we  have  traced  the  influence  of  Christian  missions 
in  discrediting  slavery,  we  have  found  that  tliey  have  taught  and  wrought 
in  the  interests  of  freedom,  and  that  they  are  an  honored  ami  u.seful 
coadjutor  to  the  enlightened  policy  of  Great  Hritain  and  other  Euro- 
pean Powers,  in  the  universal  extinction  of  this  ancient  curse  of  human 
society.  In  their  sphere  of  moral  incitement  and  tutelage  they  take 
the  front  rank,  and  represent  a  beneficent  and  agi;ressive  agency  which 
is  practically  without  a  rival  in  regions  of  the  earth  where  the  traditions 
and  usages  of  bondage  still  linger. 


I' 


3.  Abolishing  CANNinALisM  and  Inhuman  Sports.— The  en- 
trance of  Christian  mi.ssions  among  savage  races  has  invariably  branded 
with  shame  the  loathsome  habit  of  feasting  upon  human  flesh,  and  in 
the  case  of  converts  has  extingui.shed  the  desire  for  this  brutal  gratifi- 
cation where  it  has  previously  existed.  Christianity  insists  upon  tlie 
sacredness  of  human  life,  and  implants  those  refined  instincts  which 
are  sure  to  turn  with  disgust  from  the  orgies  of  a  cannibal  feast. 

The  story  of  Christian  progress  in  the  Pacific  Islands  is  full  of  testi- 
mony confirmatory  of  this  general  statement.  The  people  of  the 
Hawaiian  Group,  over  which  tlie  American  flag  now  waves,  were  re- 
deemed from  the  degradation  of  this  bestial  gluttony  by  the  labors  of 

•  The  Korean  Repos  fcry,  October,  1895,  pp.  366-372. 

*  Ibid.,  November,  1897,  p.  438. 


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338  CHtiJST/AX  Af/SS/OXS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

inivsioiuirifs.     That  the   Ha\vaiians  were  formfrly  addicted  both  f'^ 
ciniiihahsm  and  to  infanticide  is  a  fact  which  seems  to  he  based  upon 
authoritative  testimony.'     The  Christian  con\  tri> 
Paeiflc  Island* rcdcimid  of  Hawaii,  in  their  turn,  liecame  missionaries  to  '  c 
t'Zurh"™!"."".-      Marquesas  Islands,  and  were  instrumental  in  del  v- 
ering  the  inhabitants  from  the  same  odious  customs. 
Tlie  incident  of  President  Lincoln's  letter  to  the  Hawaiian  missionary 
Kekela,  thanking  him  for  tlie  rescue  of  Mr.  Whalon,  the  mate  of  an 
American  ship,  just  as  the  latter  was  al)out  to  be  killed  as  the  victim 
of  cannibals,  has  been  mentioned  elsewhere  (p.  ig).-'     In  the  Hervey, 
Society,  Samoan,  Loyalty,  Fiji,  and  New  Hebrides  groups,  except  in 
some  iucalities  where  missions  have  not  yet  penetrated,  this  fact  of  the 
cMiiiction  of  cannibalism  is  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  their 
modern  history. 

'Ihe  cliaiige  came  in  some  instances  almost  immediately  after  the 
eiitnnre  of  Christianity.     The  Island  of   Rarotonga,  in  the  Hervey 
(;rnuiv,  was  first  vi.sited  in  1823  by  Mr.  Williams,  who  in  1827  took  up 
his  residence  there.     As  eariy  as  1834,  he  wrote  concerning  the  in- 
habitants: "When  I  found  them  in  1823,  they  were  ignorant  of  the 
nature  of  Christian  worship,  and  when  1  left  them  in  1834,  I  was  not 
aware  that  there  was  a  house  in  the  island  where  family  prayer  was  not 
observed  every  morning  and  evening."     The  report  of  the  same  mission 
in  1841  contains  this  significant  statement:  "One  of  the  most  consis- 
tent members  of  the  Church,  and  an  active  evangelist,  was  in  the  days 
of  his  youth  a  cannibal." »     On  the  Httle  Island  of  Mbau,  among  the 
Fijis  is  a  great  stone  with  a  history.     It  was  once  used  as  a  place  of 
slau-hter  for  the  victims  of  cannibalism,  but  was  removed  by  the  native 
converts  to  a  Christian  church,  and,  having  been  hollowed  out,  was 
consecrated  as  a  baptismal  font.     The  murderous  baptism  of  blood  has 
given  place  to  the  gracious  baptism  of  cleansing.     This  incident  is 
typical  of  the  amazing  transformations  which  are  manifest  in  the  social 
(iindition  of  many  of  these  islands.* 

Not  very  hmg  ago  the  ship  "Scottish  Dale"  was  wrecked  on 
Vatoa,  known  also  as  Turtle  Island,  in  the  Fiji  Group.  The  crew 
were  alarmed  when  they  saw  a  native  boat  bearing  down  upon  them, 

>  Jarves,  "  History  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  "  (fourth  edition,  with  Appendix), 

pp.  43,  44. 

ii  Laurie,  "  Missions  and  Science  "  (The  Ely  Volume),  p.  4H- 

3  .\lcxandcr,  "  The  Islands  of  the  Pacific,"  pp.  267-272. 

«  /*<,/.,  pp.  405.  407.     See  also  Work  and  Work<r$  in  Ihe  Vissian  Field,  June, 
1898,  pp.  241,  242. 


1 

i 


TUE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SS/OXS 


330 


and  put  forth  every  effort  to  flee  from  the  clutches  of  those  whom  they 
supposed  to  be  cannibal  savages.     When  they  reached  the  harbor  of 
Suva,  on  the  southern  coast  of  Viti  Levu,  a  distance 
of  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  found  Th««toryofth«v«to«i» 

,  ,        ,  >!.....         and  Ut« ''ScottUh 

that  they  were  under  the  protection  of  the  British  o>i«." 

(lag,  they  congratulated  themselves  upon  their 
narrow  escape  from  death.  Their  alarm  was  needless,  xs  missions 
had  already  transformed  the  Vatoans  from  cannibals  into  kindly  and 
humane  Christians,  and  the  speed  with  which  they  were  hastening  to- 
wards the  "  Scottish  Dale  "  was  simply  indicative  of  their  desire  to  help 
the  unfortunate  mariners.  The  sailors  were  told  at  Suva  that  "  they 
would  have  been  safer  in  Vatoa  than  in  any  civilized  European  State, 
as  the  Vatoans  were  Christians,  and  had  saved  many  shipwrecked 
crews,  giving  them  food  and  lodging  free,  and  preserving  stranded 
goods,  which  they  restored  faithfully  to  the  owners."  '  The  striking 
contrast  between  the  new  times  and  the  old  is  apparent  if  we  compare 
^tatements  taken  from  the  journals  of  John  Hunt,  the  great  Wesleyan 
missionary  to  Fiji,  describing  the  horrid  atrocities  of  the  Fijians  before 
Christianity  entered,  with  the  changes  which  were  manifest  even  as 
early  as  1839.  "The  cannibals  of  Viwa,"  he  reports,  under  date  of 
February  28,  1839,  "having  embraced  Christianity,  have  lost  their 
love  of  human  flesh."-'  Under  date  of  January  7,  1839,  he  writes  in 
one  of  his  letters  of  the  former  barbarities  at  Rewa,  but  adds.  "There 
is  no  cannibalism  at  Rewa  now,  and  many  of  the  people  have  embraced 
Christianity."  *  A  still  more  vivid  insight  into  the  social  transformation 
which  marks  the  present  happier  era  in  Fiji  is  given  in  an  incident 
recorded  in  our  current  hterature,  that  the  grandchildren  of  these 
former  savages  have  contributed  thirteen  thousand  rupees  to  the  famine 
sufferers  in  India.  Can  cannibals  be  rescued  from  their  brutal  customs 
by  the  power  of  the  Gospel?  Yes,  and  they  can  be  made  to  sympathize 
to  the  extent  of  generous  liberality  towards  a  strange  and  distant  people 
who  are  famishing  for  bread.  We  are  prepared  to  believe  a  remark 
recently  made  concerning  these  once  outcast  Fijians,  that  they  are 
"the  most  law-abiding  community  in  the  world." 

The  Loyalty  Islands  yield  us  evidence  not  less  striking.  The  story 
of  Pao,  the  Rarotongan  evangelist,  and  his  memorable  and  perilous 
struggle  to  introduce  the  Gospel  into  Lifu,  is  familiar  to  readers  of 

•   TAt  Chronicle,  July,  1897,  p.  167,  quoted  from  the  Attgtmeine  Miisions-Zeit- 
ichri/l. 

»  fVorkand  IVorken  in  the  Mission  Field,  February,  1896,  p.  6l. 
»  Ibid.,  June,  1894,  p.  234. 


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340  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PPOGRESS 

South  Sea  mission  literature.'     When  he  first  went  there,  in  184^,  he 
not  only  literally  preached  the  Gospel  to  cannibals,  but  was  himself  a 
marked  victim,  his  murderers  at  one  time  having 
P.0  .Dd  hi.victorie.     been  selected  and  assigned  to  their  task,  but  at  the 
at  Lifu.  signal  for  despatching  him  not  an  arm  was  raised. 

Amid  many  perils  he  still  continued  his  brave  cam- 
paign, although  sometimes  the  very  hour  appointed  for  religious  wor- 
ship would  be  chosen  also  by  his  savage  neighbors  for  one  of  their 
inhuman  feasts.     In  1852  a  deputation  from  the  London  Missionary 
Society  visited  the  island,  and  reported  that  "  cannibalism  had  been 
stamped  out."  2     Pastor  Lengereau,  a  French  missionary  who  formerly 
resided  on  the  Island  of  Mare,  one  of  the  Loyalty  Group,  speaks  of 
the  great  things  that  have  been  accomolished  there.     "  Thirty-five  years 
ago,"  he  states,  "  seven  sailors  cast  upon  Mare  were  eaten  by  natives, 
who,  in  common  with  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  island,  were  cannibals. 
Now  the  whole  population  is  civilised,  and  cannibalism  has  ceased."  3 
More  significant  still  is  the  statement  of  Dr.  Gill  to  the  effect  that  on 
the  occasion  of  a  recent  visit  to  the  Loyalty  Islands,  he  found  "  a  band 
of  twelve  ex-cannibals,  educated  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,"  ready 
to  go  with  him  and  the  Rev.  A.  W.  Murray  to  instruct  the  heathen  of 

New  Guinea.* 

Due  north  of  the   Loyalty   Islands  are  the   New   Hebrides- 
Erromanga,  with  its  bloody  memories;  Tongoa,  the  scene  of  the  Rev. 
Oscar  Michelsen's  story  of  "  Cannibals  Won  for 
"Cannibals  won  for      Christ";   Vate,  where  faithful  Samoan  teachers 
*^*'"  HebridM.****      have  toiled,  and  where  some  of  them  have  been 
martyred  ;  Tanna,  the  missionary  home  of  the  ven- 
erable Dr.  Paton ;  Aneityum,  forever  consecrated  by  the  labors  of  the 
Rev.  John  Geddie ;  and  "also  Aniwa  and  Futuna.     All  of  these  islands 
a  generation  or  so  ago  were  the  scenes  of  unspeakable  barbarities. 
The  changes  are  marvelous.     In  place  of  cannibal  feasts  on  Ambrym, 
there  is  now  established  a  missionary  hospital  under  the  care  of  Dr. 
Robert  Lamb.s    The  Erromangans,  once  ferocious  in  their  love  of 
human  flesh,  and  with  an  evil  fame  as  the  murderers  of  missionaries, 
are  now  "reckoned  among  the  most  gentle,  kind-hearted,  and  willing 

1  Cousins,  "  The  Story  of  the  South  Seas,"  pp.  148-154;  Home,  "  The  Story 
of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  pp.  zi^-^ij- 

»  Home,  "  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  215. 

3  The  Missionary  Record,  June,  1894,  p.  180. 

«  Gill,  "  From  Darkness  to  Light  in  Polynesia,"  p.  383. 

»  "  Annual  Report  of  the  New  Hebrides  Mission,  1896,"  p.  19. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


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of  Christian  people."  •  At  Erakor,  on  the  Island  of  Vate,  there  is  a 
centre  of  Christian  light  and  civilization.'  Mr.  Michelsen  relates  some 
striking  incidents  of  Tongoa:  "Cannibalism  is  now  a  thing  of  the 
past.  The  Prince  of  Peace  reigns  over  two  thousand  natives."  He 
tells  the  story  of  a  party  rescued  from  Epi,  a  neighboring  island, 
where  cannibal  customs  were  still  known.  The  liberation  was  by  Ton- 
goans,  who  brought  these  native  friends  to  their  island  as  a  place  of 
refuge.  Among  those  thus  delivered  was  an  aged  chief,  who,  upon 
arriving  at  Selembanga,  a  mission  station  in  Tongoa,  recalled  the  fact 
that  thirty  years  before  he  had  been  there  as  an  invited  guest  at  a  hea- 
then feast,  and  "  was  one  of  those  who  helped  to  eat  forty  Purau  men, 
whom  the  people  of  Selembanga  had  slaughtered.  Now,  having  been 
saved  from  the  same  fate,  he  was  welcomed  in  a  spirit  of  compassion  by 
those  who  had  learned  a  better  way  of  life."  The  refugees  remained 
several  years  on  Tongoa,  were  converted  to  Christianity,  and  after- 
wards went  back  to  Epi  to  live  in  peace  with  their  former  enemies, 
who  had  promised  faithfully  that,  if  they  returned,  no  harm  should 
come  to  them.'  Mr.  Michelsen  writes,  at  the  conclusion  of  one  of  his 
chapters  (p.  117)1  concerning  the  death  of  a  certain  native  preacher: 
"This  was  the  last  martyr  on  Tongoa  for  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  it 
was  the  last  cannibal  feast  on  the  island." 

The  Maoris  were  once  addicted  to  these  horrid  practices,*  but  a  can- 
nibal Maori  is  not  now  to  be  found  within  range  of  Christian  influences, 
if  indeed  a  single  one  exists.     The  latest  and 
freshest  triumphs  are  in  New  Guinea,  the  home       Preih  triumphs  in 
of  the  "man-catcher."     The  missionaries  of  the  NewOuine.. 

London  Society,  such  men  as  Lawes,  Chalmers, 
Pearse,  Himt,  Walker,  Dauncey,  Abel,  and  others,  with  the  efficient  aid 
of  native  preachers  and  teachers  from  distant  islands  in  the  South 

1  The  Missionary  Record,  December,  1894,  p.  338. 

*  Home,  "The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  21 1 :  Hodder, 
"  The  Conquests  of  the  Cross,"  vol.  iii.,  pp.  424,  425. 

'  Michelsen,  "  Cannibals  Won  for  Christ,"  pp.  79-84. 

*  "  The  stories  of  their  [the  Maoris']  cannibalism  are  revolting.  They  differed 
from  the  other  Polynesians  in  that,  besides  feasting  on  enemies  who  were  killed  in 
battle,  they  specially  fattened  slaves  for  their  feasts.  A  poor  slave  girl  would  some- 
times be  commanded  by  her  master  to  fetch  fuel,  light  a  fire,  and  heat  an  oven,  and 
then  would  be  knocked  on  the  head,  and  cast  into  the  oven.  One  cannibal  testified 
that,  when  he  first  heard  the  missionaries  speak  of  the  sinfulness  of  eating  human 
flesh,  he  thought  their  words  were  very  foolish,  and  questioned  whether  it  was  any 
more  wicked  to  eat  a  man  than  a  dog,  or  pig,  or  any  other  animal  j  but  remembering 
the  words,  he  did  not  relish  his  next  cannibal  feast,  and  finally  loathed  the  sight  of 


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342  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

Seas,  once  noted  for  cannibalism,»  are  transforming  the  wild  natures 
and  ferocious  customs  of  that  savage  people,  until,  as  Mr.  Chalmers 
wrote  of  East  Cape  in  1882:  "All  these  things  are  changed,  or  in 
procers  of  change.     For  several  years  there  have  been  no  cannibal 
ovens,  no  desire  for  skulls.     Tribes  that  formerly  could  not  meet  but 
to  fight  now  assemble  as  friends,  and  sit  side  by  side  in  the  same  house 
worshipping  the  true  God."  2    At  an  isolated  station  on  Milne  Bay, 
directly  opposite  the  house  of  the  teacher,  stand  some  cocoanut-trees, 
which  are  "  simply  tattooed  with  the  records  of  the  men  who  have  been 
killed  and  eaten  in  that  village."     It  seems  that  it  was  customary  to 
cut  a  notch  in  the  tree  upon  the  celebration  of  each  cannibal  feast. 
All  this  has  now  ceased,  let  us  hope  forever,  in  that  little  village,  where 
a  messenger  of  the  Gospel -a  converted  native  from  distant  Samoa- 
is  teaching  of  Christ.^     From  the  outposts  of  Australia,  the  Moravian 
Mission  at  Mapoon,  on  CuUen  Point,  reports  similar  changes.*    The 
missionary  societies  of  the  Netherlands  in  the  Dutch  East  Indies  have 
done  much,  wherever  their  work  has  extended,  to  eradicate  the  custom. 
The  late  Dr.  J.  L.  Phillips,  who  visited  those  islands  in  1895,  was  told 
that  there  were  at  present  no  cannibals  in  Sumatra." 

The  cannibalism  of  Africa  is  confined  largely  to  the  regions  of  the 
Congo  and  its  tributaries,  and  to  the  Hinterland  of  the  West  Coast. 
Wherever  mission  work  has  been  established,  it 
A  moral  tonic  for       IS  noticeable  that  within  the  area  of  its  influence 
Africmn  appetitei.       this   evil   is   Under   a   ban.      The   EngHsh   and 
American  missionaries   in   the  Congo  State  are 
many  of  them  face  to  face  with  this  brutal  custom,  which,  according 
to  Captain  Hinde's  recent  book,  "The  Fall  of  the  Congo  Arabs,"  pre- 
vails under  conditions  of  exceptional  atrocity."     The  little  groups  of 
converts,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  are  the  pioneers  of  a  better  sentiment, 
although  as  yet  their  example  is  but  an  insignificant  force  amid  the 
wild  millions  of  those  vast  regions.     The  Presbyterian  Mission  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Gaboon  is  working  among  the  Fan  (written  also  "  Fang") 
tribes,  who  are  notorious  for  their  love  of  human  flesh.     The  English 

such  food,  and  became  a  Christian."-Alexander.  "  The  Islands  of  the  Pacific," 
pp.  359,  360. 

1  Home,  "  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  407- 

a  Chalmers  and  Gill,  "  Work  and  Adventure  in  New  Guinea,"  p.  251. 

3   The  Chronicle,  August,  1892,  p.  193. 

«  PeriodUal  Accounts  Relating  to  the  Moravian  Missions,  December,  1894. 
p.  393;  The  Missionary  Record,  May,  1893,  p.  157. 

6  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  September,  1895,  p.  685. 

«  Hinde,  "  The  Fall  of  the  Congo  Arabs,"  pp.  62-69,  ^>  I3'.  «7S.  282-285. 


llll 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


343 


and  Scotch  missions  in  Lagos  and  Old  Calabar  have  to  contend  with 
the  same  vicious  tendencies.  The  late  Bishop  Crowther,  in  one  of  his 
papers  on  African  missions,  relates  a  typical  incident.  It  happened 
that  in  a  tribal  war  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners  were  taken, 
who  were  divided  among  the  conquerors.  Eleven  of  these  capti'-^s 
were  assigned  to  chiefs  who  were  Christian  converts,  and  the  remaining 
one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  fell  to  the  lot  of  heathen  rulers.  The 
lauer  were  killed  and  eaten,  but  the  eleven  were  spared  by  the  Christian 
chiefs. 

Some  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  South  America  are  known  to  have  been 
long  addicted  to  cannibalism.     It  is  supposed  that  the  word  itself  is 
derived  from  the  Caribs,  or  Caribales,  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  islands  off  the  northeast  coast  of        ^he  paning  of 

,  cannibalism  in  Tierra 

South  America,  notonous  for  their   man-eating  deiFuego. 

propensities.^  The  Indians  of  Tierra  del  Fuego 
were  shameless  cannibals,  until  the  South  American  Missionary  Society 
established  its  work  among  them.  Their  tendencies  in  this  respect 
have  been  completely  changed.  The  Rev.  S.  J.  Christen,  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Mission,  Santiago,  Chile,  writes  of  them  as  follows :  "  Formerly 
the  poor  shipwrecked  sailors  who  had  the  misfortune  to  be  thrown  on 
those  inhospitable  shores  were  almost  invariably  butchered  and  eaten ; 
to-day,  influenced  by  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  they  give  assistance  and 
shelter  to  the  unfortunate.  The  Chile  Government  some  years  ago 
made  public  recognition  of  this  fact,  complimenting  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Bridges,  who  was  working  among  them,  and  sending  to  the  poor  Indians 
a  number  of  cows  and  o.xen  as  a  premium  for  their  humanitarian  spirit." 
The  same  brutal  passions  that  are  gratified  in  cannibalism  find 
indulgence  also  in  cruel  sports.  As  Christianity  has  had  its  part  to 
play  in  the  overthrow  of  gladiatorial  contests,-  so  at  the  present  day, 
wherever  inhuman  pastimes  are  known,  every  possible  effort  is  made  by 
missionaries  to  check  and  abolish  them. 


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4.  Arresting  Human  Sacrifices.— The  humanizing  influence  of 
missions,  wherever  they  have  entered,  has  been  an  unfailing  remedy  for 
this  ghastly  rite.     The  Gospel  doctrine  of  forgiveness,  based  upon  the 

1  Josa,  "The  Apostle  of  the  Indians  of  Guiana:  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  \V.  H. 
Brett,"  pp.  104-106. 

'  "  There  is  scarcely  any  other  single  reform  so  important  in  the  moral  history  of 
mankind  as  the  suppression  of  the  gladiatorial  shows,  and  this  feat  must  be  almost  ex- 
clusively ascribed  to  the  Christian  Church. "— Lecky,  "  History  of  European  Morals  " 
(American  ed.),  vol.  ii.,  p.  34. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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sacrifice  of  Christ,  has  also  taught  both  its  folly  and  its  worthlessness. 
That  which  Christianity  has  made  only  a  grim  tradition  of  the  early 
paganism  of  our  ancestors  is  still  to  be  found  in 
What  chriitienity  haa  the  present-day  haunts  of  darkness.     Not  to  go 
dona  *^^^jj'»^^  """•"  \)i£^  to  the  old  Syrian  and  Phoenician  times,  we 
may  find  among  the  Teutons,  the  Druids,  and  the 
Aztecs  much  nearer  traces  of  these  atrocious  crimes,  and  it  is  hard  to 
realize  that  even  to-day  the  same  sun  which  shines  upon  us  often  looks 
down  in  some  other  lands  upon  a  dismal  ritual  of  murder  in  the  name  of 
religion,  though  in  reality  chiefly  for  the  gratification  of  barbaric  -ride. 
On  the  West  Coast  of  Africa,  that  hotbed  of  abominations,  we 
soon  come  into  contact  with  the  horrors  of  human  sacrifices.     They 
are  f.ir  less  numerous,  to  be  sure,  than  they  were  a 
generation  or  so  ago,  but  the  quivering  flesh  and 
streaming  blood  of  scores  of  victims  in  that  dreary 
Hinterland  behind  the  thin  line  of  West  Coast 
civilization   cannot   even  now  be  concealed.     "  Benin,  the  City  of 
Blood,"  is  the  tide  of  a  recent  volume,  describing  with  lurid  realism  the 
scenes  of  a  West  Coast  inferno  in  1897.'     A  British  expedition  to 
Kumassi,  in  1895,  put  an  end  to  a  similar  carnival  of  crime,  and  de- 
stroyed the  power  of  Prempeh,  that  king  of  beastliness  and  cruelty. 
The  royal  mausoleum  at  Bantama,  with  his  official  shambles,  has  been 
destroyed.     His  "  Fesdval  of  the  Yams,"  with  its  six  hundred  victims, 
is  no  longer  celebrated  with  ghastly  immolations.     The  fetich-trees  arc- 
not  now  soaked  to  the  roots  with  the  life-blood  of  his  victims.     His  hor- 
rid mandate  of  the  sacrifice  of  one  of  his  slaves,  for  his  entertainment  eacli 
night  before  he  slept,  has  ceased.     He  can  no  longer  offer  four  hundred 
virgins,  that  their  blood  may  be  mixed  with  the  mortar  to  form  a  richer 
red  in  the  painted  stucco  of  his  palace.^    Truly,  the  city  of  Kumassi  was 
rightly  named  "  Death  Place,"  where  the  executioners  were  such  con- 
spicuous members  of  the  king's  personnel  that  a  whole  quarter  of  the  city 
was  assigned  to  them.     This  guilty  wretch  is  now  a  prisoner  in  Sierra 
Leone,  under  official  guardianship,  ind  the  government  of  Ashanti  is 
in  British  hands.     The  executioners'  knives  were  all  handed  over, 

1  Bacon,  "  Benin,  the  City  of  Blood." 

*  Sanderson,  "Africa  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  pp.  77,  294,  307;  Macdon- 
ald,  "  The  Gold  Coast,  Past  and  Present,"  p.  286 ;  Kemp,  "  Nine  Years  at  the  Gold 
Coast,"  pp.  251,  256;  The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Monthly,  March,  1897,  pp.  64, 
65;  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  August,  1898,  p.  324:  The  Mail  (Lon- 
don), April  15,  1896,  containing  extracts  from  an  article  published  in  The  Siena 
Leone  Messenger,  by  the  Rev.  Canon  Taylor  Smith,  acting  chaplain  to  the  Ashanti 
Expedition. 


-(4-: 


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THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MLSSIOXS  3,,-, 

with  much   official  ceremony,  to  the  late  Sir  Wilham  E.  Maxwell, 
who  was  then  the  Governor. 

This,  however,  is  a  story  of  British  arms ;  there  is  another  record 
of  missionary  suffering  and  heroism,  which  compleiDents  it.     The  Rev. 
Friedrich  Ramseyer  and  his  wife,  of  the  Basel 
Society,   had   previously   penetrated    into    these     ..Non,o,.th.k„if." 
haunts  of  cruelty.     They  were  there  made  captives  «»  Kum«..i. 

in  1869,  and  for  four  years  were  at  the  mercy  of 
ihtir  bloody  persecutors.     Their  deliverance  came  when  Sir  Garnet 
Wolseley's  victorious  expedition  arrived  in  1874.     Mr.  Ramseyer  now 
writes  with  joy  that  he  is  again  in  Kumas.si,  and  that  it  is  once  more  a 
station  of  the  Basel  Society.     He  speaks  of  his  return  in  1896  as  if  it 
were  a  dream,  and  refers  gratefully  to  the  kindness  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernor and  his  friendliness  towards  the  mission.     The  people  are  glad 
to  be  delivered  from  Prempeh's  tyranny,  and  hail  the  good  missionary 
as  one  of  their  old  friends.i     The  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  is  also 
now  reinstated  in  its  work  at  Kumassi.     An  incident  illustrates  the  joy 
with  which  the  new  regime  has  been  welcomed.     It  is  stated  tliat  "  while 
on  a  tour  through  the  country,  the  British  Governor  caused  the  militarv 
band  which  accompanied  him  to  play  one  evening  in  the  street  of  a 
certain  town.     Among  the  crowd  which  gathered  to  listen  was  a  woman 
who  could  not  resist  the  influence  of  the  music,  and  who  began  to  dance 
and  smg.     Pains  were  taken  to  discover  what  she  sang,  and   it  was 
found  that  every  improvised  verse  ended  with  the  words,  'No  more  the 
knife  /  No  more  the  kiit/e .' ' "  2 

The  records  of  the  Old  Calabar  Mission  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland  yield  clear  and  emphatic  data  upon  the  subject 
we  are  now  considering.     Human  sacrifices,  both 
as  acts  of  worship  and  as  tributes  of  honor  to  the        a  Society  for  the 
dead,  were  commonplace  events  when  the  mis-  stcllS" om  "."1^ 
sionanes  first  entered   the   country.      Slaves   by 
scores  and  hundreds  were  sacrificed  through  pure  wantonness,  and 
with  absolute  unconcern   for  human   life.     The   pioneers,  Waddell 
Goldie,  and  Anderson,  took  a  strong,  unflinching  stand  in  opposi- 
tion to  these  customs.     Finally,  in  1850,  occurred  the  death  of  tw.i 
chiefs  and  the  occasion  was  a  time  for  action.     Several  wives  and  slaves 
had  already  been  made  victims,  when  Mr.  Anderson  appealed  to  the 
king,  and,  through  tact,  firmness,  and  the  power  of  his  personal  influence, 

sioLZ'!^'  '''""''  ^"'"''  "^''  ""■  '''•  ''"°''='^  f'<""  '^^  ^^'^~  ^^- 

=*   n,fr,e  Churtk  of  Scotland  Monthly,  September,  1896,  p.  2,9. 


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316  CHRISTIAN  AtlSSIOXS  AXD  SOCIAL   PROGKESS 

he  succeeded  in  putting  a  check  upon  the  proceedings.  The  king 
and  the  chiefs  met  with  the  missionaries  in  the  church  palaver-house,  and 
'•  agreed  to  pass  a  law  that  human  sacrifices  should  be  abolished,  and 
tlKit  life  should  not  be  taken  unless  for  crime."  The  following  day  the 
iiiisr-ionarics  rallied  the  people,  and,  supported  by  public  sentiment,  a 
"  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Human  Sacrifices  in  Old  Calabar  "  was 
formed.  So  firm  and  decisive  were  the  efforts  made  that  on  the  15th 
of  February,  1850,  the  law  was  passed,  and  although  it  was  difficult  at 
once  to  enforce  it  fully,  there  was  steady  progress,  until  human  sacri- 
fices became  a  thing  of  the  past.*  Victories  like  this  have  since  been 
won  in  other  sections  of  the  country,  and  when  King  Eyo  died,  Decem- 
ber 3,  1858,  "  there  was  not  a  drop  of  blood  shed.  Many  of  the  slaves 
took  to  flight,  but  his  Christian  retainers  remained,  and  without  fear 
ptrformcd  the  last  offices  for  the  dead.  Only  twelve  years  before  this 
tlie  death  of  a  king  would  have  implied  the  slaughter  of  hundreds."  "■ 
Other  kings  have  since  died  within  the  field  occupied  by  the  mission, 
but  without  the  bloody  scenes  enacted  in  former  days.'  A  similar 
story  is  told  by  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Fuller,  who  landed  on  the  West  Coast 
of  Africa  in  1845,  and  lived  to  see  "  the  old  custom  of  burying  the  liv- 
ing with  the  dead  wiped  out  and  gone."  * 

The  Yoruba  Mission  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  has  a 

record  not  of  uninterrupted  success,  but  of  steady  effort  and  final  vie 

tory.     If  a  chief  now  dies,  it  is  more  than  likely 

The  triumph  of  a  loiitary  that  no  sacrifices  will  be  offered,  but  if  the  old 

"'"'fu neri'/r"'        temptation  should  conquer,  there  will  be  not  more 

than  one  or  two  victims,  and  they  will  be  slain  in 

secret,  whereas  previously  they  would   have  been  killed  by  scores.'' 

liishop  Phillips,  a  native  of  Lagos,  writes :  "  The  influence  of  Christian. 

ity  upon  the  horrible  customs  connected  with  human  sacrifices  in  this 

country  is  gradual,  but  marked.     The  public  parad-ng  of  the  victims 

1  cfore  the  immolation  was  first  discontinued.     Next  the  opinion  as 

to  the  usefulness  or  beneficial  results  of  a  human  sacrifice  was  changed, 

so  that  it  came  to  be  generally  acknowledged  as  wanton  cruelty. 

Then  it  was  practised  clandestinely,  and  now  it  has  been  abandoned 

(we  trust)  altogether."     In  "  A  Life  for  Africa  "  is  a  significant  incident 

1  Dickie,  "  Story  of  the  Mission  in  Old  Calabar,"  p.  38. 

2  IbtJ.,  p.  63. 

»  T/u  Missionary  Record,  October,  1893,  p.  286;  November,  1895,  p  ■  3"  ! 
March,    1896,  p.  75;  IVomau's  Work  for  Woman,  June,  1896,  p.  158. 

4  lllustraUd  Africa,  June,  1894,  p.  10;  Pierson,  "The  New  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles," pp.  2t)7-269. 

4  '•  Keport  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1894,"  p.  36. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


34; 


relating  how  Dr.  Good  succeeded  In  "  having  the  dead  safely  buritil 
alone,"  and  thus  dealt  an  effective  blow  at  witchcraft  and  its  attendant 
custom  of  burying  a  woman  alive  in  the  grave  of  her  husband. 
"  Within  two  years  after,"  writes  his  biographer,  "  three  witch-doctors 
in  the  district  abandoned  their  calling."*  We  read  of  missionaries 
facing  the  same  dread  emergencies  in  the  valley  of  the  Congo,  and 
remonstrating  with  excited  crowds,  at  the  time  of  funeral  ceremonies,  on 
the  wickedness  and  folly  of  these  needless  sacrifices.  One  of  the 
missionaries  of  the  Baptist  Congo  Mission  writes:  "  I  cannot  help  con. 
trasting  the  spirit  exhibited  during  this  affair  [an  attempt  to  prevent  a 
human  sacrifice]  with  that  .shown  about  two  years  ago."  Then  all 
remonstrance  was  in  vain,  but  in  this  case  it  was  successful."''  In 
Uganda,  as  far  back  as  1893,  the  missionaries  persuaded  the  king  to 
give  up  the  custom  of  murdering  all  his  brothers  when  he  came  to  the 
throne.'  In  Zambesia  the  Rev.  F.  Coillard  so  influenced  King  Le- 
wanika  that  "  for  four  years  he  has  not  offered  a  human  sacrifice,  or 
allowed  his  subjects  to  practise  this  rite."  * 

The  readers  of  Mr.  Michelsen's  book  on  missions  in  the  South  Seas, 
and  of  Dr.  Gill's  "  Life  in  the  Southern  Isles,"  will  find  examples  of  the 
power  of    Christianity   to    stay    these    inhuman 
rites.     In  a  narrative  given  in  the  latter  volume,    *  new  order  of  peace- 
entitled  "  Saved  from  Sacrifice,"  the  storj'  of  Maki-    °  "  "'Ve"ai.* 
mou,  an  old  native,  is  related,  to  the  effect  that 
again  and  again,  before  the  Gosjiel  entered  his  island  home  of  Mangaia, 
he  was  marked  as  a  victim  for  sacrifice,  but  was  saved  through  the 
intervention  of  powerful  friends.     In  his  own  words  he  gives  this 
testimony :  "  Still  I  believed  that  I  must  die,  and  in  my  turn  be  offere'' 
But,  blessed  be  Jehovah,  not  long  after  the  offering  of   Reona;  t, 
the  Gospel  was  brought  to  Mangaia.    I  then  learned  with  wonder  that  the 
true  peace-offering  is  Jesus,  who  died  on  Calvary,  in  order  that  all  the 
wretched  slaves  of  Satan  might  be  freed.     This  was  indeed  good  news 
to  me."     After  some  years  the  king,  chiefs,  and  the  body  of  the  people 
embraced  Christianity  and  burned  their  idols,  and  Makimou  was  saved.^ 
The  wondrous  story  of  other  Christianized  islands  certifies  to  the  same 
transforming  power  of  the  missionary  evangel.^ 

'  Parsons,  "  A  Life  for  Africa,"  pp.  272,  273. 
2  Thi  Monthly  Messenger,  March,  1893,  p.  68. 
'  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  March,  1893,  p.  202. 

*  Johnston,  "  Missionary  Landscapes  in  the  Dark  Continent,"  p.  141. 

*  Gill,  "  Life  in  the  Southern  Isles,"  p.  327.     See  '-.Iso  Michelsen,  "  Cannibals 
Won  for  Christ,"  pp.  120-122,  131. 

*  The  Chronicle,  July,  1893,  p.  194;  August,  l'i94,  p.  181. 


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348 


CllRlSTtAN  MISSIONS  AXD  SOCIAL  PKOCRESS 


The  existence  of  the  custotn  of  human  sacrifice*  in  India,  until  the 
advent  of  British  rule,  cannot  be  denied.     The  AbW  Dubois  Kiv«rs 
explicit  testimony  to  this  fact.*     The  Khonds,  in 
Th«  •uppraasioa  or      Orissa,  one  of  the  aboriginal  hill  tribes,  seem  to 
"""rn'in'du.  **'       l^ave   attained   a   revolting   preeminence   in   the 
practice.     Mission  work   among  them  has  been 
largely  instrumental  in  c'liunging  all  this,  and  under  the  British  Govern- 
ment such  immolations  are  suppressed  by  law.'     It  becomes  a  simple 
truism  that  where  Christianity  enters,  and  the  Gospel  illumines  the 
mind  and  softens  the   heart,  human  sacrifices  are  regarded  as  an 
abomination,  and  are  no  longjr  offered.' 


I 


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5.  Banishing  Cruel  Ordeals.— The  barbarous  ordeals  of  hea- 
thendom must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  vulnerable  points  of 
non-civilized  society.     If  there  is  such  a  thing  as 

Th*  feoiUhncM  native  common  sense,  it  is  hard  to  understand 
of  htathtn  wiidom.  ^^-hy  it  has  not  long  ago  wrought  out  a  deliver- 
ance of  its  own  ;  yet  the  same  stupid  and  atrocious 
performances  have  gone  on  for  centuries,  and  seem  to  be  beyond  remedy 
except  through  guidance,  help,  and  courage  supplied  from  some  out- 
side  source.  The  Christian  teaching  concerning  a  gracious,  good,  and 
almighty  God,  at  once  the  protector  of  the  innocent  and  the  judge  of 
the  guilty,  satisfies  the  demand  for  justice  and  affords  a  refuge  from 
the  terrors  of  demonology.  Education  gives  enlightened  views  of  the 
natural  world  and  our  relations  to  it,  while  it  delivers  the  mind  from  the 
dismal  spell  of  superstition.  Those  who  are  taught  the  truths  of  science 
can  no  longer  be  made  to  submit  to  the  arbitrament  of  poison  or  to  the 

>  "  Hindu  Manners,  Customs,  and  Ceremonies,"  pp.  652-654.  On  the  general 
subject  of  sacrifice  as  a  feature  of  Hinduism,  see  an  instructive  article  by  Dr.  F.  V. 
Ellinwood,  in  The  Afissionary  Revieui  of  the  World,  November,  1898,  pp.  827-833. 

'  Rtgions  Beyond,  January,  1897,  p.  24. 

»  The  Christian  Patriot  of  Madras  for  December  24,  1 896,  in  an  editorial  on 
the  Indian  famine,  calls  attention  to  a  suggestive  remark  from  I'he  Times,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Before  we  conclude,  we  briefly  allude  to  an  interesting  observation  made  by 
Th*  Times  on  this  subject.  This  journal  shows  how  famine  serves  as  a  criterion  of 
the  changes  that  are  taking  place  in  native  opinion.  It  points  out  that  years  ago 
native;  regarded  famine  as  a  sign  of  divine  wrath,  and  betook  themselves  to  propitia- 
tory rites.  But  things  have  altered  now.  Instead  of  looking  to  miracles  wrung  from 
heaven  by  sacrificial  rites,  and  even  by  human  offerings,  the  Indian  now  scans  tlie 
weather  forecast,  and  if  divine  interposition  is  looked  for,  it  is  expected  in  the  wind 
currents.  Though  the  orthodox  Hindus  still  regard  famine  as  a  visitation,  the  aver- 
age among  them  no  longer  thinks  of  resorting  to  sacrifices." 


i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  .V/SS/OXS  340 

torture  of  fire  as  tests  of  moral  guilt.  We  who  are  born  into  the  free- 
dotn  of  knowledge  can  little  comprehend  the  limitations  of  those  in  the 
grim  thraldom  of  total  ignorance.  \Vc  who  enjoy  the  privilege  of  ap. 
pealing  to  divine  and  human  justice  can  but  feebly  realize  the  agony 
and  demoralization  of  those  who  regard  themselves  as  the  victims  of 
evil  omens  and  unseen  foes,  -  already  condemned  by  the  verdict  of 
fate.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  dislodging  of  these  satanic  devices 
is  not  easy.  The  struggle  in  African  mission  fields  to  discredit  the 
insignificant  esere-bean  as  the  arbiter  of  guilt  or  innocence  has  been  a 
desperate  conflict ;  yet  where  Christian  missions  have  gained  a  vantage- 
ground  the  battle  has  been  fought  and  won,  and  the  poisonous  bean, 
which  was  so  long  both  judge  and  jury  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa, 
has  been  relegated  to  its  proper  place  as  an  ordinary  product  of 
nature. 

In  the  history  of  the  Old  Calabar  Mission,  under  date  of  185a,  we 
read  of  the  death  of  a  native  king,  and  of  the  immediate  recourse  to 
the  ordeal  of  drinking  the  powdered  esere-bean  by 
the  suspected  parties,  in  order  to  discover  who   Th.b.„uh„,.ntof.h. 
caused  his   illness,   on   the   supposition   that   if         poison  or<n«i. 
guilty, "  they  would  retain  it  and  die ;  if  innocent, 
put  it  up  and  live."     It  is  stated  that  all  who  drank  it  at  that  time  died. 
There  were  resolute  and  courageous  missionaries  in  Calabar  in  the 
early  fifties.     "  Waddell,  with  his  zeal  and  spirituality,  Goldie,  with  his 
scholariy  tastes  and  calm  perseverance,  Anderson,  with  his  courage  and 
dash,  made  a  strong  triumvirate."     U.th  them  were  associated  others 
of  like  qualities.     Among  the  signs  of  progress  which  were  reported  a 
httle  later  were  the  following:  "  When  Eyo's  hou.se  was  burned  down, 
and  property  to  the  value  of  some  thousands  of  pounds  destroyed,  it 
was  a  distinct  victory  to  the  cause  of  Christ  that  no  one  was  accused, 
and  no  esere-bean  employed  to  discover  the  culprit,  as  would  inevitably 
have  been  the  case  but  for  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  upon  the  king."  1 
In  1855  some  suspected  natives  who  were  doomed  to  undergo  the 
poison  ordeal  fled  to  Mr.  Anderson's  house  for  protection.     He  har- 
bored them,  not  without  serious  peril  to  himself,  and  by  the  interven- 
tion of  a  British  consul  from   Fernando  Po  the  repudiation  of  the 
ordeal  was  secured.     Again  and  again  Anderson  fought  this  dread 
iniquity,  until,  in  1878,  a  document  was  drawn  up  by  Her  Majesty's 
Consul,  Mr.  Hopkins,  and  the  leading  men  of  the  country.     It  is  Mr. 
Hopkins's  own  statement  that  this  agreement  was  made  possible  by 
missionary  influence  and   teaching.     Articles   III.   and   IV.  are  as 
1  Dickie,  "  Story  of  the  Mission  in  Old  Calabar,"  pp.  44,  45. 


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350  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

follows :  "  (3)  Any  person  administering  the  esere-bean,  whether  the 
pcrs<in  taking  it  dies  or  not,  shall  be  considered  guilty  of  murder,  and 
shall  suffer  death.  (4)  Any  persons  taking  the  esere-bean  wilfully, 
either  for  the  purpose  of  committing  suicide,  or  for  the  purpose  of 
attempting  to  prove  their  innocence  of  any  crime  of  which  they  may 
have  been  accused,  shall  be  considered  guilty  of  attempted  murder,  and 
shall  be  fined  as  heavily  as  their  circumstances  will  permit,  and  shall 
be  banished  from  the  country."  »  What  more  decisive  trophy  of  their 
victory  could  Christian  missions  present? 

Bishop  Ferguson,  of  Liberia,  writes  of  the  conversion  of  the  Grebos 
to  Christianity,  and  the  consequent  abolishment  of  the  ordeal  by 
poison.2  In  fact,  on  the  Gold  Coast  persons  have  been  known  to 
declare  themselves  Christians  for  the  sake  of  escaping  the  perils  of 
witchcraft  and  the  deadly  poison  ordeal,  since  it  has  become  an 
accepted  dictum  that  Christianity  wil'  not  tolerate  these  cruelties.:* 
Dr.  Franklin  P.  Lynch,  an  American  Baptist  missionary  in  the  Congo 
Valley,  writes  of  his  conflicts  with  the  native  tribes  in  the  endeavor  to 
break  up  the  tikasa  (poisonwood)  palavers,  and  of  his  success,  after  a 
flagrant  and  fatal  case,  in  securing  a  formal  agreement  signed  by  all  the 
neighboring  chiefs,  in  which  they  pledged  themselves  "  to  prevent  any 
further  administration  of  nkasa  in  the  territory."  They  moreover 
stipulated  that  no  tiganga  (medicine-man)  should  be  allowed  to  make 
a  charge  of  witchcraft  within  their  dominions,  and  that  no  one  should 
be  taken  elsewhere  in  order  to  receive  the  poison.* 

Corroborative  testimony  from  the  Rev.  Robert  Laws,  M.D.,  writing 
from  the  borders  of  Lake  Nyassa,  indicates  that  the  poison  ordeal  has 
been  "  almost  abolished  within  a  great  part  of  the  sphere  of  his  mis- 
sion." *  In  a  private  letter  to  the  author  he  remarks :  "  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Bandaw6,  where  the  effects  of  the  Gospel  have  been  most 
marked,  the  use  of  the  ordeal  has  almost  disappeared,  and  when 
resorted  to,  the  fact  is  concealed  as  much  as  possible."  The  Rev. 
J.  S.  Wimbush,  of  the  Universities'  Mission,  writes  from  the  southern 
shores  of  the  lake,  that  while  poison-drinking  and  other  witchcraft  used 
to  be  quite  common  on  the  Island  of  Likoma,  these  things  "  seem  now 
to  have  come  to  an  end,  and  public  opinion  is  setting  against  them." 

»  Dickie,  "  Story  of  the  Mission  in  Old  Calabar,"  p.  79. 
2  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  May,  1894,  p.  364. 
s   The  Christian  Express,  February,  1895.  p.  28. 
♦   The  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,  October,  1896,  p.  508. 
»  "  Foreign  Mission  Report  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  l897." 
p,  J  I,     See  Dr.  Laws's  statement  as  to  its  former  prevalence,  in  Vol.  1.,  p.  i64' 


m 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


361 


Among  the  wild  parishioners  of  Pastor  Coillard  was  Lewanika,  the 
King  of  the  Barotsi.     He  was  much  given  to  terrorizing  his  people  by 
ordeals,  and  one  day  he  found  himself  in  unlucky 
circumstances  which  forced  upon  him  the  tempta-      ^  «<""*  premcher'i 

,  T,  ^   -.  •trmighttalkto 

tion  to  resort  to  desperate  measures.  Pastor  Coil-  African  royalty, 
lard  on  hearing  of  this  made  a  strenuous  endeavor 
to  check  the  impending  disaster.  "  Directly  this  news  reached  us," 
he  writes,  "  I  took  a  canoe  and  went  to  the  capital.  The  king  seemed 
pleased  to  see  me— his  heart  was  full ;  he  passed  a  great  part  of  the 
night  in  my  hut,  talking.  I  spent  the  whole  of  the  next  day  in  private 
interviews  with  his  principal  councillors,  and  in  the  evening  they  were 
all  assembled  at  my  place  with  their  master.  But  that  did  not  suffice. 
The  next  day,  Sunday,  at  the  two  meetings,  I  preached  on  the  Sixth 
Commandment :  '  Thou  shall  not  kill.'  I  leave  you  to  imagine  how 
they  opened  their  eyes  when  they  heard  me  enunciate  and  develop 
this  truth,  here  so  new  and  strange,  that  man  is  the  creature,  the  exclu- 
sive property  of  God,  that  kings  and  governors  are  only  the  shepherds 
of  the  people,  and  servants  who  will  have  to  render  an  account  of  their 
stewardship.  However  much  I  shrank  from  the  task,  I  had  to  de- 
nounce the  atrocity  of  a  superstition  which  so  lightly  sacrificed  so  many 
human  lives,  and  the  intrigues  which  had  produced  these  last  events. 
I  felt  the  full  importance  of  the  occasion,  and  the  grandeur  of  the  min- 
istry committed  to  me.  Oh,  how  trembhngly  I  had  gone  to  Lealuyi! 
—how  I  besought  my  Master  for  fidelity,  for  strength,  and  the  power 
of  a  burning  love !  They  understood  my  address  quite  as  well  as  the 
purpose  of  my  visit.  The  people,  astonished,  said,  '  Ah,  yes,  indeed! ' 
The  king  hung  his  head,  and  said  to  the  Gambella,  '  The  words  of  the 
Moruti  have  sunk  into  my  heart.'  The  councillors  came  to  me  in 
private,  to  beg  me  to  repeat  them  to  him ;  and  he  himself  in  his  turn 
asked  me  to  say  them  all  again  to  his  ministers.  They  made  me  all 
sorts  of  fine  promises:  no  more  ordeals  by  boiHng  water,  no  more 
poison,  no  more  burning  at  the  stake."  ^ 

Pastor  Coillard  no  doubt  saved  lives  at  that  time,  and  the  spirit  with 
which  he  then  discharged  his  high  duty  indicates  clearly  enough  the 
tact  and  energy  with  which  he  has  conducted  this  long  struggle.  He 
writes  a  little  further  on  as  if  he  realized  that  a  temporary  success  of 
this  kind  did  not  necessarily  mean  the  final  break-up  of  a  long-estab- 
lished custom.  "  But  let  us  not  deceive  ourselves,"  he  remarks ;  "  it 
is  not  at  the  first  blast  of  the  ram's  horn  that  one  can  overthrow  or 
even  shake  the  walls  of  superstition.     It  is  one  of  Satan's  chief  strong- 

1  Coillard,  "  On  the  Threshold  of  Central  Africa,"  p.  288. 


Pi 


l! 


t;fe  -f 


1 1 ' 


352  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

holds.  But  we  shall  redouble  the  blows,  we  shall  dig  mines,  and  happy 
shall  we  be  if  we  can  succeed  in  making  a  breach! "  If  the  venerable 
pastor  does  not  live  to  see  the  day  of  final  and  confirmed  triumph,  yet 
his  name  and  courageous  services  will  be  forever  associated  with  the 
deliverance  of  his  flock  from  the  terrors  of  the  poison  ordeal. 

In  Madagascar  a  decisive  result  is  reported  by  a  resident  missionary, 
of  the  London  Society.    "  Trial  by  ordeal,"  writes  the  Rev.  J.  Pearse,  Fi- 

anarantsoa, "  used  to  be  the  popular  way  of  decid- 

No  more  deadly  ordeaii  Jug  between  the  supposedly  innocent  and  the  guilty, 

'"  "'n'l ndir""**     and  hundreds  of  guiltless  men  and  women  were 

thus  cruelly  murdered  every  year.  Now  the  fatal 
draught  is  never  mixed,  and  the  deadly  cup  is  never  put  to  the  lips  of 
any  accused  persons."  In  India  this  species  of  savagery  is  forbidden 
by  authority  of  the  British  Government.  Devotees  are  still  found  who 
subject  themselves  to  much  suffering  by  self-imposed  ordeals,  but  such 
exhibitions  as  hook-swinging  and  murderous  self-mutilation  are  now 
prohibited,  though  not  as  yet  entirely  suppressed. 


6.  Initiating  the  Crusade  against  Foot-Binding.— A  pecu- 
liar interest  attaches  to  this  struggle  to  dislodge  an  ancient  and  barbaric 
custom,  since  the  purpose  of  the  endeavor  is  to 

The  missionary  verdict        ,  ,  -i  n        j    /•  ^         ^     .. 

concerning  the  wanton  release  mnocent  childhood  from  wanton  torture, 
torture  of  childhood  in  jygj  ^g  t^g  sunny  and  frolicsome  days  of  Chinese 
girlhood  are  beginning,  during  the  fateful  fifth  or 
sixth  year,  this  grim  decree  of  mutilation  lays  its  hand  upon  the  little 
victim,  holds  her  in  its  relentless  grasp  for  months  and  years  of  pain, 
and  then  turns  her  loose  to  a  maimed  and  fettered  life.  Until  recently 
hardly  a  word  of  protest  has  been  raised  by  the  ethics,  the  philosophy, 
the  common  sense,  or  the  humanitarian  instincts  of  China,  while  this 
piercing  and  needless  suffering  has  been  inflicted  from  generation  to 
generation.  If  pressed  by  argument,  or  confronted  with  the  question 
of  Cui  bono?  in  many  instances  intelligent  Chinese  will  frankly  acknow- 
ledge that  foot-binding  is  senseless  and  cruel.  There  is  a  well-known 
saying  among  them,  that  "  for  every  pair  of  small  feet  there  is  a  kon^ 
full  of  tears  "—a  kong  being  the  Chinese  equivalent  for  "  pail."  The 
offset  to  this,  however,  and  by  far  the  more  powerful  sentiment,  is  that 
"  a  woman's  feet  and  hair  proclaim  what  kind  of  a  woman  she  is." 
The  desire  for  feet  after  the  type  of  the  "  Golden  Lilies "  seems  to 
control  parental  feelings  and  capture  the  imagination  even  of  suffering 
childhood.    The  custom  is  entrenched  in  the  social  system  of  China, 


THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


353 


though  it  is  acknowledged  to  have  no  support  from  Confucianism. 
The  present  Manchu  dynasty  even  repudiates  it  in  the  royal  palace  and 
the  higher  circles  of  Manchu  society  do  not  conform  to  it.  Neverthe- 
less the  effort  of  Kang  He,  a  former  emperor,  to  abolish  it  by  royal 
proclamation  utterly  failed,  and  he  was  advised  by  his  councillors  that 
any  endeavor  to  compel  its  suppression  would  occasion  a  widespread 
and  dangerous  rebellion. 

Christian  missionaries,  while  deeply  sensible  of  the  magnitude  of 
this  evil,  and  of  the  desirability  of  reform,  have  also  realized  the  over- 
whelming difficulties  and  threatening  perils  which 
would  be  involved  in  an  unwise  attempt  to  deal  The  difficuiHe*  of 
prematurely  and  in  a  spirit  of  compulsion  with  this  """"bfndinB.^""*' 
most  delicate  question.  They  have,  therefore, 
exercised  great  prudence  and  self-restraint,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  have  been  expectant  and  alert,  availing  themselves  of  every  oppor- 
tunity to  prepare  the  way  for  a  great  change.  There  was,  naturally, 
some  difference  of  opinion  among  them  as  to  whether  it  was  wise  to 
meddle  with  the  custom.  Many  who  deeply  deprecated  its  existence 
were  yet  inclined  to  let  it  alone,  in  the  hope  that  in  the  course  of  time 
it  would  die  out  or  remedy  itself.  Within  the  present  generation, 
however,  and  especially  during  the  last  decade,  a  more  militant  and 
aggressive  attitude  has  been  assumed.  Missionary  women  throughout 
China  are  now  thoroughly  aroused,  and,  with  mingled  tenderness,  tact, 
energy,  and  courage,  have  resolutely  inaugurated  an  ardent  crusade.  A 
new  public  sentiment  upon  the  subject  is  springing  up  on  every  side, 
and  the  iron  rule  of  fa.shion  is  weakening.  The  glory  of  the  "  Golden 
Lilies  "  is  fading,  and  the  Creator's  ideal  is  beginning  to  be  honored  and 
recognized.  The  Rev.  John  Macgowan,  of  Amoy,  remarks  in  one  of 
his  recent  volumes:  "It  is  amaziiig  with  what  heroic  fortitude  the 
women  of  this  country  have  endured  a  custom  that  entails  a  lifalong 
misery.  It  has  such  a  hold,  however,  upon  all  classes  of  them  that  no 
imperial  legislation  has  ever  been  able  to  affect  it  in  the  slightest  degree. 
The  only  force  that  will  be  able  to  banish  it  from  the  country  is  Chris- 
tianity. Much  has  been  effected  by  that  already,  and  to-day  hundreds 
of  giris  and  women  within  the  Church,  now  pioneers  in  the  movement 
for  freedom,  are  rejoicing  in  the  liberty  that  never  would  have  come  to 
them  but  for  the  Gospel  of  Christ." ' 

Foot-binding  has  sometimes  been  lightly  spoken  of  as  not  a  matter 
of  serious  moment,  and  an  issue  which  should  be  left  to  the  Chinese 
to  settle  for  themselves.     No  student  of  the  well-being  of  society  can 
»  Macgowan,  "  Pictures  of  Southern  China,"  p.  308. 


I 


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354  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

thus  regard  it  when  he  realizes  that  it  almost  necessitates  domestic  slov. 
enliness  and  dirt,  is  a  stimulus  to  false  and  utterly  artificial  pride,  leads 

to  enforced  idleness,  produces  much  ill-health,  oc- 

A  social  Indictment     casions  excruciating  suffering,  cripples  the  person, 

of  bound  feet.  diminishes  the  capacity  for  useful  service  in  every 

sphere  of  a  woman's  life,  and  is  an  incitement 
to  the  crime  of  infanticide.'  It  is  hard  to  understand  the  almost 
impregnable  fixedness  of  a  custom  wholly  evil,  and  based  upon  purely 
artificial  and  imaginative  standards ;  yet  the  magnitude  of  these  diffi- 
culties  no  one  appreciates  more  vividly  than  the  missionaries  them- 
selves. "The  most  noteworthy  struggle  of  the  year,"  writes  Mrs. 
Goodrich,  of  the  American  Board,  in  1895,  "has  been  at  Kalgan, 
where  Miss  Etta  Williams  has  fought  Satan  in  his  stronghold  of  pride 
(for  the  Kalgan  feet  are  '  so  dainty  and  pretty '),  and  convinced  some 

1  A  description  of  the  method  of  foot-binding  has  been  given  in  Vol.  I.,  p.  212 ; 
but  we  insert  here  another,  from  an  authoritative  source,  giving  in  graphic  English 
the  result  of  personal  observation  during  many  years  of  residence  in  China:  "  Long 
bandages  of  calico,  about  two  inches  in  width,  are  prepared,  and  the  process  is 
liogun  by  turning  all  the  toes,  except  the  large  one,  under  the  soles  of  the  feet.  In 
the  early  stages  the  children  suffer  agonies.  Every  day  the  bandages  are  tightened, 
and  the  toes  driven  still  further  from  the  place  where  Nature  has  appointed  them, 
until  the  instep,  amidst  pains  that  only  those  who  have  endured  them  can  compre- 
hend, is  thrust  forward  in  this  unnatural  manner.  Still  the  bandages  do  their  cruel 
work,  fastened  by  the  hand  of  a  mother  from  whose  heart  custom  has  expunged  al) 
the  more  generous  and  tender  feeling  tor  her  offspring,  and  a  chasm  is  made  between 
the  heel  and  the  fore  part  of  the  foot,  whilst  the  instep  becomes  convex  in  shape, 
insead  of  concave.  The  morrow  comes,  and  the  cruel  torture  is  resumed,  and  no 
tears  can  stay  the  hand  that  inflicts  it.  The  toes,  in  spite  of  the  fiercest  protest 
from  Nature,  are  pressed  by  brute  force  still  further  under  the  soles,  and  the  instep 
bones,  unable  to  bear  the  strain,  crack  and  break,  and  yet  the  mother,  untouched  by 
the  wreck  she  has  made  of  her  girl's  feet,  draws  the  bandages  tighter  and  still  more 
tight,  till  at  length,  through  the  infinite  suffering  of  her  daughter,  she  has  reached 
the  very  ultimate  limit  to  which  her  art  can  go,  and  the  feet  are  so  reduced  in  size 
that  they  can  be  put  within  the  narrow  confines  of  the  shoe.  But  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  the  torture  ends  when  the  process  of  binding  has  been  completed,  and 
when  flesh  and  blood  have  been  cramped  within  the  very  narrowest  possible  bounds. 
When  the  beau-ideal  has  been  reached,  in  order  to  get  the  feet  into  the  small,  doll- 
like shoes,  the  unfortunate  victim  of  this  hideous  custom  is  compelled  from  this  time 
forward,  whenever  she  walks  out,  to  stand  with  her  feet,  not  in  the  ordinary  natural 
way,  but  in  an  inclined  position,  with  the  heels  considerably  elevated  above  the  toes. 
She  thus  really  throws  the  whole  burden  of  her  body  upon  the  latter ;  and,  in  order 
to  ease  the  strain  upon  them,  a  ball  of  cloth  is  fixed  in  the  after  part  of  the  shoe  upon 
which  the  heel  may  rest,  thus  relieving  the  pressure  upon  the  big  toe,  which  cannot 
be  cramped,  for  fear  of  fatal  consequences."— Macgowan,  "  Pictures  of  Southern 
China,"  pp.  307,  308. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


365 


of  the  Christian  mothers  of  the  sin  of  foot-binding.  It  was  a  battle 
such  as  you  in  America  cannot  comprehend."  >  In  some  sections  of 
the  country  there  is  hardly  any  test  of  the  moral  courage,  fortitude, 
and  patience  of  a  Chinese  woman  which  can  compare  with  that  of 
allowing  herself  to  be  the  possessor  of  natural  feet,  and  appearing  in 
public  as  God  made  her. 

The  origin  of  the  practice  cannot  be  settled  by  any  authoritative 
historical  record.    Some  Chinese  writers  have  asserted  that  it  began  in 
the  time  of  the  Tsi  dynasty  (a.d.  501).     Others, 
and  the  latter  is  more  probably  the  correct  view,       The  origin  of  the 
trace  it  only  to  the  days  of  the  Tang  dynasty  cmtom. 

(A.D.  975).  All  agree  that  it  was  a  device  of  some 
favorite  of  the  imperial  harem,  but  the  purpose  which  it  was  intended 
to  serve  is  not  so  clear.  It  has  been  said  that  the  object  was  to  dis- 
guise a  natural  deformity.  Another  version  states  that  it  was  the 
wile  of  a  royal  concubine,  a  celebrated  beauty  who  won  the  heart  of 
the  king  by  her  graceful  dancing,  and  that  the  origin  of  the  term 
"  Golden  Lilies "  as  applied  to  small  feet  is  the  king's  exclamation  of 
admi»"  jn:  "Every  step  she  takes  she  causes  a  lily  to  grow."  Dr. 
Faber  and  Dr.  Edkins  both  advocate  the  later  origin ;  the  former 
argues  that,  strictly  speaking,  it  is  not  a  legal  custom,  since  it  is  agamst 
the  usage  of  Chinese  antiquity,  and  made  its  appearance  fourteen 
hundred  years  after  the  time  of  Confucius.  It  is  not,  therefore, 
supported  by  the  teachings  of  the  Chinese  sages,  and  is,  moreover, 
contrary  to  the  expressed  will  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  present 
dynasty.2 

The  earliest  aggressive  efforts  on  the  part  of  missionaries  of  which 
the  writer  can  find  any  trace  occurred  in  1870,  when  a  school,  the  name 
of  which  is  not  given,  is  mentioned  in  which  the 
custom  was  not  allowed.     Another  reference,  as    The  initial  movement 
early  as  1872,  is  found  concerning  the  girls'  school      for  us  suppression, 
of   the    Methodist    Episcopal    Mission,    Peking, 
where  the  contention  for  unbound  feet  as  a  matter  of  Christian  prin- 
ciple has  been  steadily  and  successfully  maintained.     Mrs.  Grace  Stott 
(C.  I.  M.)  also  opened  a  school  at  Wenchow,  in  1874,  in  which  no 
foot-binding  was  permitted.     The  pioneer  anti-foot-binding  society 

»  Lift  and  Light  for  W'-nan,  November,  1895,  p.  503.  The  sad  tidings  have 
recently  been  received  of  the  death  of  Miss  Williams,  which  occurred,  after  a  brief 
illness,  at  Kalgan,  May  30,  1898. 

»  Woman's  Work  in  the  Far  East,  May,  1894,  p.  120;  August,  1894,  p.  33, 
Cf.  also  article  by  Dr.   Faber,  in   The  Chinese  Recorder,  April,   1893. 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


was  established  in  Amoy  in  1874,^  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Rev.  John  Macgowan,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  with  the 
hearty  cooperation  of  other  Amoy  missionaries.  A  pledge  was  drawn 
up  and  signed  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  society  by  over  forty  women 
who  were  prepared  to  unite  in  the  movement.  The  organization  has 
flourished,  and  now,  according  to  recent  information,  it  numbers  over  a 
thousand  members.-  In  the  "  Records  of  the  Shanghai  Conference  of 
1877"  (p.  132),  an  essay  on  this  subject  is  found,  contributed  by 
Miss  S.  H.  Woolston,  then  of  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Mis- 
sion at  Foochow,  in  which  the  following  statements  are  made:  "It  is 
well  understood  in  the  Foochow  missions— in  two  of  them,  at  least— 
that  preachers  and  church-members  are  not  to  bind  the  feet  of  their 
daughters."  It  is  also  stated  that  the  preachers  themselves  in  the 
Metlicdist  Mission  "  made  a  rule  prohibiting  the  practice  among  church- 
members."  The  distinction  between  the  higher  classes,  with  bound 
feet,  and  the  lower  classes,  consisting  of  slaves  and  hard-working 
women,  with  unbound  feet,  is  noted,  while  the  appearance  of  a  third 
class,  respectable  and  at  the  same  time  neither  slaves  nor  work-people, 
and  yet  having  unbound  feet,  is  commented  upon  as  having  already 
sprung  up.  It  was  asserted  that  this  latter  class  was  destined  to  increase 
and  become  identified  with  Christianity.  The  prOi^hecy  of  that  essay 
has  already  been  fulfilled.  It  is  apparent  from  the  discussion  which 
followed  its  reading  that  the  missionaries  had  strong  convictions  upon 
the  subject,  but  were  acting  in  the  matter  with  wisdom  and  self- 
restraint.  In  the  "  r  cords  of  the  Shanghai  Conference  of  1890" 
there  are  indications  of  progress,  although  the  subject  is  not  so  prom- 

>   The  Chinese  Recorder,  October,  1895,  p.  497. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  Mrs.  L.  VV.  Kip,  dated  Amoy,  July  7, 
1874,  and  furnished  to  the  author  by  Dr.  H.  N.  Cobb,  Secretary  of  the  Reformed 
Church  Board  of  Missions,  refers  to  the  organization  of  this  society:  "  Last  winter, 
at  one  of  our  missionary  conferences,  the  subject  of  small  feet  was  brought  up,  aii'! 
it  was  thought  we  might  institute  a  society  the  members  of  which  would  pledge  them- 
selves not  to  bind  their  girls'  feet.  After  a  great  deal  of  talk,  a  pledge-book  wa . 
printed,  and  a  meeting  for  women  only  was  appointed  for  Friday,  July  3d,  in  one  1  T 
our  churches.  There  were  about  seventy  present  in  the  body  of  the  church  ;  in  the 
pulpit  were  three  missionary  gentlemen  and  two  Chinese  pastors.  After  prayer  ami 
addresses,  all  who  were  willing  to  take  the  pledge  were  invited  to  sign  their  names, 
or  rather  make  their  marks.  Then  we  ladies  had  a  chance  to  do  our  part,  and  we 
each  went  round  to  those  of  our  own  classes  who,  we  knew,  were  willing  to  join,  but 
who,  perhaps,  would  not  have  courage  to  come  forward  alone,  and  brought  them  up 
to  sign,  and  in  that  way  we  secured  over  forty  names  at  once." 

^  "  Christianity  is  the  only  force  that  would  dare  to  attack  such  a  widespread 
system  as  foot-binding,  backed  as  it  is  by  the  gentry,  the  scholars,  the  wealthy 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISS/OXS  357 

inent,  u  no  doubt  it  will  be  in  the  coming  conference  which  wiU  prob- 
ably be  held  in  1901. 

The  awakening  of  a  more  general  interest  among  the  Chinese  in 
favor  of  the  suppression  of  foot-binding,  and  we  may  also  say  the 
quickening  of  a  more  aggressive  spirit  among  mis- 
sionaries themselves,  became    manifest   in   1893     Th«  ort«nii««on  of • 
and  1894.     The  action  of  the  Shanghai  Mission-        "'"'"dV""' 
ary  Association,  taken  December  5,  1 893,  appoint- 
ing a  committee  to  "deal  with  the  whole  question,  with  full  power  to 
act,"  seems  to  have  stimulated  a  progressive  and  widely  extended  cam- 
paign  against  the  custom.    The  committee  entered  into  correspondence 
with  missionaries  throughout  China,  and  brought  to  light  the  fact  that 
there  was  much  latent  interest  in  the  subject,  and  that  excellent  work 
was  being  accomplished  here  and  there  in  cultivating  a  spirit  of  revolt 
against  such  grievous  exactions.     Under  the  auspices  of  this  committee 
mass-meetings  were  held  in  Shanghai,  and  an  anti-foot-binding  society 
organized,  known  as  the  "  Tien  Tsu  Hui."     Other  mass-meetings  have 
been  held  and  other  societies  formed  in  rapid  succession  in  various 
communities,  until  the  statement  made  in  a  missionary  communication 
m  1894,  that  "all  China  seems  to  be  aroused  on  the  question  of  foot- 
binding,"  is  quite  true  within  the  limits  of  mission  influence.     Since 
1894  missionary  correspondence  from  China  has  been  full  of  references 
to  this  subject.     The  Tien  Tsu   Hui,    or   "  Natural-Foot   Society," 
under  the  direction  not  alone  of  missionaries,  but  of  the  wives  of  con- 
suls and  other  prominent  foreigners  in  Shanghai,  is  fully  equipped  for 
Its  work,  and  is  engaged  in  issuing  a  supply  of  literature  in  which  the 
custom  of  foot-binding  is  condemned.     Prizes  have  been  offered  for 
the  best  essays  upon  the  theme  by  Chinese  authors.     The  Tienfin 
Committee  of  the  Tien  Tsu  Hui,  in  response  to  its  recent  offer  of 

n.iddle  class,  and  by  the  instincts  of  the  women,  who  feel  that  they  would  be  de- 
graded  were  they  to  leave  their  feet  unbound.  Seventeen  years  ago  an  anti-foot- 
binding  society  was  formed  in  Amoy,  and  all  were  invited  to  join  it.  The  object 
was  to  do  away  with  this  cruel  and  unsightly  custom.  Some  of  the  better  spirits 
joined  at  once,  but  great  opposition  was  manif  sted  by  others.  Public  meetings 
were  held,  where  essays  both  for  and  against  it  were  read,  and  which  were  after- 
wards discussed  both  by  friend  and  foe.  The  result  is  that  to-day  over  a  thousand 
persons  are  connected  with  the  society,  and  now  public  opinion  in  the  churches  is 
,Tr  '°  !°°*-'"f '"g-  The  idea  which  originated  in  Amoy  has  spread  to  other 
places  in  China  and  to-day  in  different  parts  of  this  great  empire  a  vigorous  crusade 
sbemg  earned  on  against  the  inhuman  practice.  Only  Christianity  could  have 
ccomp  ished  this,  for  so  strong  was  the  hold  it  had  on  all  classes  of  society  that 
imperial  legislation  against  it  was  unable  to  control  it  in  the  slightest  degree. "- 
Rev.  John  Macgowan  (L.  M.  S.).  Amoy,  China. 


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CllklSTlAX  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  mOCXESS 


such  a  prize,  received  one  hundred  and  seven  essays,  coming  from  four 
provinces.'  Meetings  have  been  and  will  continue  to  be  held  for  dis- 
cussion, and  local  committees  are  being  formed  in  many  towns.  The 
efficient  organizing  Secretary,  Mrs.  Archibald  Little,  the  wife  of  an 
English  merchant  residing  at  Chungking,  is  indefatigable  in  her  efforts 
to  extend  the  usefulness  of  the  society.  One  of  the  most  recent  steps 
has  been  the  preparation  of  a  memorial  to  the  Emperor,  praying  for 
his  intervention  to  put  a  stop  to  the  custom  throughout  the  empire. 
The  International  Women's  Union  also  united  in  the  presentation  of 
this  memorial,  which  was  forwarded  to  the  Tsung-li  Yamen  by  Minis- 
ter Denby.  This  official  body,  however,  respectfully  declined  to  assume 
the  responsibility  of  placing  it  before  the  Emperor. 

A  survey  of  the  progress  already  made  in  this  good  cause  may  be 
taken  from  Shanghai  as  a  centre,  where  the  new  crusade  seems  to  have 
had  its  origin.     In  that  city  "  foot-binding  is  not 
TheprogrMf  inc*iitr«i  allowed  "  in  St.  Mary's  Hall,  a  school  of  the  Epis- 
•nd  Southern  China,     copal  Mission,  and  in  the  Presbyterian  boarding- 
school  the  custom  is  opposed  by  both  teachers 
and  pupils.     In  a  society  of  Christian  women  under  the  direction  of 
Miss  Posey  forty  members  have  pledged  themselves  against  it.*    If  we 
turn  southward,  we  find  at  Hangchow  the  girls'  boarding-school  of 
the  American  Mission  (Southern  Presbyterian),  reporting  through  Miss 
Davidson  that  "  from  the  first  it  has  taken  a  firm  stand  against  this  evil, 
and  no  girl  has  been  allowed  to  enter  whose  feet  were  not  unbound." 
The  school  has  more  applicants  every  year  than  can  be  accommodated.' 
At  Ningpo  is  a  society  which,  in  1894,  had  not  yet  celebrated  its  first 
anniversary,  but   already  a  number  of  Christian  women    there  had 
unbound  their  feet.     At  Funghwa  a  little  group  of  women,  under  the 
influence  of  Miss  Britton,  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  have  had  the 
courage  to  break  with  the  custom.     One  of  the  earliest  efforts  was 
made  at  Wenchow,  when,  twenty-five  years  ago,  Mrs.  Grace  Stott,  of 
the  same  mission,  founded  a  boarding-school  in  which  no  bound  feet 
were  to  be  admitted.     The  school  grew  in  numbers,  and  is  now  full, 
with  a  waiting  list  of  those  who  are  ready  to  comply  with  the  condition.* 
At  Kweiki,  in  Kiangsi,  is  a  school  of  twenty-five  giris,  under  the  charge  of 
Miss  McCulloch  (C.  I.  M.),  "all  with  unbound  feet."     At  Foochow 
a  decided  sentiment  against  foot-binding  exists,  and  special  efforts  are 

1  The  Chinese  Recorder,  July,  1898,  p.  358. 

»  "  Station  Reports  of  the  Central  China  Mission,  1893-94,"  PP-  '2f  '5- 

J  The  Missionary,  February,  1895,  p.  80. 

*  Stolt,  "  Twenty-six  Years  of  Missionary  Work  in  China,"  p.  55. 


»t 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  350 

reported,  not  only  on  the  part  of  miuionaries,  but  of  prominent  Chi- 
nese, to  lecure  iu  cemtion.  It  is  stated  that  on  the  Island  of  Haitang, 
where  the  American  Methodist  Mission  is  estabhshed,  "  nearly  all  the 
Christian  women  either  have  natural  feet,  or  have  unbound  them,"  and 
that  the  daughters  of  the  Christians  are  quite  free  from  the  infliction. 
At  Amoy,  as  we  have  seen,  there  is  a  large  and  flourishing  pioneer  soci- 
ety  of  over  a  thousand  members.  From  Formosa  the  Rev.  W .  Gaukl 
(C.  P.  M.),  of  Tamsui,  writes:  "Among  Christians  there  is  a  growing 
opinion  against  it,  and  many  have  given  it  up."  At  Swatow  a  begin- 
ning  has  been  made.  At  Canton  "  none  of  the  Christians  bind  the  feet 
of  their  daughters,  and  to  allow  them  to  remain  the  natural  size  is 
becoming  more  and  more  consistent  with  respectability  and  a  good 
position  in  society."  In  the  Canton  Female  Seminary  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Mission,  in  the  year  1890,  there  were  ninety-two  giris,  and 
of  this  number  only  five  had  bound  feet.> 

Starting  out  again  from  Shanghai,  in  a  northerly  direction,  we  reach 
Nanking,  where  there  is  a  school  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission, 
in  which  the  rule  is  to  unbind  the  feet.     In  the 
boarding-school  of  the  Foreign  Chri   ■■      Mission-     b„u...„.  from  North 
arj-  Society,  with  an  enrollment  of  n      iwo,  "  all  china, 

tlie  giris  who  had  bound  feet  have  unbound  them." 
At  Chinkiang  "increased  interest"  is  reported,  and  excellent  work  is 
being  done  towards  "setting  the  prisoners  free."     Mrs.  Killie  states 
that  at  Ichowfu  a  movement  has  been  commenced  for  releasing  the  feet 
of  the  children  in  the  girls'  school.     The  Rev.  Dr.  Corbett,  of  Chefoo 
wntes  that  "within  a  year  not  a  few  of  our  women-some  of  them' 
well  advanced  in  life-have  unbound  their  own  feet,  and  pledged 
themselves  to  do  all  they  can  to  prevent  their  friends  and  neighbors 
from  following  this  cruel  custom."     In  September,  1894,  an  anti-foot- 
binding  league  was  formed  in  Chefoo,  and  there  is  a  group  of  Chinese 
Christian  mothers  in  the  city,  most  of  whom  were  educated  at  mission 
schools,  who  can  be  relied  upon  not  to  bind  their  daughters'  feet  2    The 
late  Mrs.  C.  VV.  Mateer  reported  from  Tungchow  that  of  the  thirty-two 
pupils  m  the  Girls'  High  School  "all  but  four  had  unbound  feet,  and 
this  was  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  practice."     From  Pang-Chuang 
Miss  Wyckof!,  of  the  American  Board,  announces  the  formation  of  a 
society  with  a  membership  of  fifty-eight,  and  states  that  no  giri  with 
bound  feet  is  admitted  to  the  boarding-school.3     From  Tientsin  Miss 

»  "  Records  of  the  Missionary  Conference,  1890,"  p.  221 

»  Woman's  Work  for  Woman,  February,  1895.  ?•  36. 

»  WomaHU  Work  in  the  Far  East,  August,  1894,  pp.  63,  64. 


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CHRISTIAS  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PXOCXESS 


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Stanley,  of  the  wme  Board,  write*  with  ittiiftction  th»t  ihe  "  has  four 
girls  all  ready  to  go  to  Peking,  who  have  unbound  feet."     In  the  girli* 
ichool  of  the  London  Miwionary  Society  at  Peking  there  hai  been  a 
rising  tide  of  aversion  to  this  injurious  practice,  and  one  girl  after 
another  has  unbound  her  feet,  until  out  of  thirty-seven  there  was,  in 
January,  1894,  "only  one  httle  cripple  left."»    The  Bridgman  School 
of  the  American  Board  at  Peking  has  taken  the  stand  "  that  it  will 
receive  no  more  girls  with  bound  feet."     In  1893  an  anti-foot-binding 
society  was  formed  in  the  capital,  with  an  enthusiastic  mcmbership.- 
The   Rev.    Dr.  Goodrich,  of  Tungcho,  near   Peking,  states  that  a 
sentiment  is  hi^nnging  up  against  this  detestable  custom.     He  writes : 
"This  is  wholly  due  to  missions,  and  especially  lo  our  missionary 
ladies.     I  predict  that  in  a  score  or  two  of  years  foot-binding  will  be 
rapidly  passing  away,  at  least  in  North  China.     In  this  city  there  ar  ■ 
about  forty  women  and  girls  with  natural  feet."    The  struggle  t.. 
subdue  this  almost  invincible  evil  in  Kalgan,  one  of  its  strongholds, 
goes  bravely  on.     Mrs.  Moir  Duncan  writes  in  1895,  from  Hsianfn 
(Singanfu),  Shensi  Province,  in  the  far  interior :  "  Three  years  and  r, 
half  ago,  one  young  woman  faced  the  inevitable  ridicule  of  her  fellow?, 
and  unbound  her  hale  feet.     Since  then  over  seventy  have  followed 
her  example.     Of  these  two  are  more  than  seventy  years  of  age,  some 
over  sixty,  many  over  fifty,  and  all  agree  in  testifying  to  the  increased 
comfort  they  enjoy  from  their  unbound  feet.     Add  to  these  the  scholars 
and  ex-scholars  of  our  boarding-school,  and  you  have  over  one  hundred 
and  twenty  witnesses  silently  reproving  the  cruel  and  crippHng  fashion 
we  long  to  see  utterly  abolished." »    A  later  report  in  1898  gives  the 
number  as  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

Entering  now  the  great  valley  of  the  Yang-tse  Kiang,  we  find  at 
Kiukiang,  where  all  classes  of  women  bind  their  feet,  a  hearty  antago- 
nism to  the  miseries  of  foot-binding  in  the  school 
Th..toryofr.foriiHn    of  the  Methodist  Mission,  under  the  charge  of 
the  Yang-ue  Valley.     Mjss  Stanton.     It  is  Stated  that  Kiukiang  was  the 
home  of  the  first  ^i\  in  Central  China  who  was 
allowed  to  grow  up  with  unbound  feet.     An  interesting  incident  is  re- 
lated in  connection  with  a  mass-meeting  held  at  the  time  of  the  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  Centra?  China  Mission,  October  29,  1894.    Mrs.  Shie, 
the  mother  of  this  same  girl,  better  known,  perhaps,  by  her  translated 
name  of  Mrs.  Stone,  was  invited  to  make  an  address  upon  the  occasion. 

>  Quarterly  Neurs  of  Woman's  Work,  July,  1 894,  p.  70. 

>  The  Missionary  Herald,  September,  1 893,  p.  349;  November,  1896,  p.  ^'^■ 
»  "  Report  of  the  English  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  1896,"  p.  66;  1898,  p.  72- 


I«l 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  s«l 

She  reUtedtn  Incident  from  her  own  personal  experience,  saying  that 
"when  their  first  daughter  was  born  the  father  knelt  beside  her  bed 
and  together  they  consecrated  the  little  one  to  the  Lord,  and  reuis- 
tered  their  vow  that  her  feet  should  never  be  bound."      Years  after 
we  find  this  daughter,  bearing  the  new  name  of  Mary  Stone,  standing 
upon  the  platform  at  the  commencement  of    Michigan    University, 
receiving  her  medical  diploma  in  anticipation  of  her  return  to  her  na- 
tive city  to  open  a  hospital  there  for  Chinese  women.'      Her  picture 
appears  opposite  page  193.     Soon  after  the  meeting  referred  to  an 
anti-foot-binding  association  was  formed  at  Kiukiang,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  sixty-two.     In  an  article  published  in  1897,  Mrs  Archibald 
Little  rejwrts  that  at  Kiukiang  she  "had  the  pleasure  of  serng  in 
the  American  Methodist  Episcopal  School  forty  bright,  hcalthy-lookine 
girls  with  unbound  feet."     There  are  also  fully  as  many  Chinese  women 
in  that  city  who  have  released  themselves  from  the  bonds.*    At  Hankow 
still  further  up  the  Yang.tsc,  we  read  of  meetings  in  the  interests  of  this 
''^tm.3    The  Rev.  William  Deans,  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  Mission 
;    .Chang,  writes  that  "  Christian  missions  help  in  the  suppression  of 
foot-bindmg,  as  church-members  generally  do  not  bind  tlie  feet  of  their 
Kirls."    At  Chungking,  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Archibald  Little,  a  vigor- 
ous society  has  been  formed,  called  tiie  "  Natural- Foot  League  "  a 
union  organization  supported  by  the  four  Protestant  missions  in  !hat 
place.     At  a  meeting  held  in  1896,  sixty  Chinese  men  were  present,  and 
all  but  SIX  indicated  that  they  were  opposed  to  foot-binding      A  still 
later  report  states  that  there  were  five  successful  anti-foot-bindinc 
meetings  among  the    Chinese  in  Chungking  during  the  winter  of 
1896-97-     A  society  composed  of  Chinese  men  is  one  of  the  latest 
developments.     One  of  the  gatherings  was  marked  by  a  unique  feature 
in  the  form  of  a  prize  shoe  competition.     "  Competitors  had  been  in- 
vited  to  send  m  shoes  of  original  design  for  unbound  feet,  not  less  than 
five  Chinese  inches  in  length.     Thirty  pairs  were  sent.     Prize«  were 
given  for  the  three  pairs  which  secured  most  votes  from  the  visitors  "  « 
A  presentable  and  attractive  shoe  seems  to  be  one  of  the  essentials  of 
a  successful  reform  movement.     If  the  Chinese  women  could  see  some- 
thing  pretty  to  step  into  with  their  unbound  feet,  many  of  the    naginary 

^I2y,  S,';  f  "•  "'"•  "'5'  PP-  '""^  '«  =  '""  '''""^^"  (Shanghai), 
»  The  Chtntit  KtcerJtr,  Jaty,  1897,  p.  jj,, 
"  /M.  July,  189s.  p.  34,. 


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362  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

hardships  of  the  change  would  vanish.  We  pass  over  another  long 
stretch  of  the  Yang-tse,  and  come  to  Suichaufu  (Suifu),  where  the 
good  cause  seems  to  have  excited  unusual  interest.  At  Chentu,  a 
point  still  further  into  the  interior  of  far  western  Szechuan,  we  reach 
apparently  the  outposts  of  the  anti-foot-binding  movement.  A  so- 
ciety has  been  formed,  and  the  question  of  reform  taken  up  under 
promising  auspices  by  the  missionaries  of  all  three  societies  working  in 

that  city.* 

These  scattered  fragments  of  information  which  the  author  has  been 

able  to  cull  from  current  missionary  literature,  although  no  doubt  they 

present  in  an  inadequate  way  the   real  vitality 

Thecomingfateofthe   and  growing  momentum  of  the  movement,  yet 

"  Golden  Lilies."  gcrve  clearly  to  indicate  that  there  is  a  determined, 
though  quiet,  crusade  now  organized,  which  is 
destined  to  achieve  the  overthrow  of  an  ancient  and  monstrous  wrong. 
A  correspondent  of  The  Spectator,  writing  from  Shanghai,  under  date 
of  December  20,  1897,  gives  a  striking  account  of  the  unexpected  favor 
with  which  the  anti-foot-binding  movement  has  been  received  in  the 
higher  circles  of  Chinese  society,  and  records  a  manifest  inclination 
among  the  women  of  superior  rank  to  take  an  active  part  in  urging  the 
reform.  They  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  project  a  school  intended 
for  girls  of  the  upper  classes  of  society,  which  contains  in  its  prospectus 
the  following  astonishing  and  revolutionary  sentiment :  "  Foot-binding 
is  a  wicked  custom ;  so,  after  having  been  admitted  into  the  school,  the 
girls  shall  advise  each  other  to  unbind  their  feet.  For  the  present  bo;h 
those  with  feet  bound  and  unbound  shall  be  similarly  admitted,  but  after 
the  lapse  of  a  few  years  girls  with  bound  feet  shall  not  be  admitted." 
The  writer  of  the  communication  states  that  special  invitations  were 
extended,  by  the  Chinese  committee  having  this  plan  in  charge,  to  all 
the  officers  and  patronesses  of  the  Tien  Tsu  Hui,  or  "  Natural-Foot 
Society,"  which  had  been  organized  in  Shanghai.  Moreover,  a  union 
meeting  had  been  held  between  Chinese  and  foreign  communities  for 
the  suppression  of  foot-binding.  A  Chinese  society  had  just  been  estab- 
lished, composed  of  men  of  high  standing  and  great  influence,  and  it 
was  "their  intention  to  ask  the  Superintendents  of  Northern  and 
Southern  Trade  to  petition  the  Emperor  that  children  bom  after  the 
twenty-third  year  of  Kuang  Hsu  [i.e.,  1897]  should  not  be  recognized 
as  of  standing  unless  they  had  natural  feet."  Petitions,  it  is  stated, 
have  been  presented  to  the  viceroys  of  several  provinces,  praying  for 

1  Woman's  Work  in  the  Far  East,  November,  1895,  p.  u8;  May,  1898,  pp. 
17-20. 


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fl 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SS/OXS  303 

the  enforcement  of  the  ancient  law  against  foot-binding.'  A  petition 
from  the  /iferafi  to  the  officials  at  Foochow  is  reported,  urging  that 
the  practice  be  prohibited.!  Several  of  these  accomplished  scholars 
have  exercised  their  literary  gifts  by  translating  anf-foot-binding  proc- 
lamations into  rhythmical  measures,  and  have  adopted  the  novel  expe- 
dient of  employing  the  blind  and  the  poor  to  commit  them  to  memory 
and  recite  them  throughout  the  city  of  Foochow.3  All  this  clearly 
indicates  that  the  hour  of  China's  deliverance  from  this  wretched  custom 
is  surely  coming. 

In  initiating  this  valuable  reform  all  attempts  at  compulsion  have 
been  avoided.     Quiet  appeals  to  conscience  and  common  sense,  a 
vigorous  effort  to  dissipate  prejudice  and  mould 
public  opinion,  and  a  resolute  stand  on  the  part     *  i^ie*  "pp**'  to  the 
of  many  missionary  schools  not  to  have  Christian  ''of  LT«."ch"  «ian°" 
education  identified  with  this  unchristian  usage, 
are  the  main  elements  of  urgency  in  the  campaign.     In  seeking  to 
influence  Chinese  converts  much  stress  is  laid  upon  the  Scriptural  doc- 
trine of  the  sacredness  of  the  body.  ?nd  the  obligation  to  honor  the 
will  of  God,  while  practical  and  humnne  considerations  are  not  ignored. 
In  a  few  instances  a  pledge  not  to  p     xipate  in  foot-binding  has  been 
made  a  condition  of  church-membership,  but  this  is  far  from  general, 
and  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  probably  the  majority  of 
missionaries  in  China,  however  earnestly  they  may  be  disposed  to 
advise  in  the  matter.      The  appeal  for  reform  is  addressed  not  to 
women  and  to  mothers  of  girls  only,  but  to  mothers  of  boys,  and 
to  young  men  themselves,  urging  them  to  relax  their  insistence  upon 
bound  feet  as  a  condition  of  marriage.     Hymns  have  been  composed, 
full  of  anti-foot-binding  sentiment,  which  are   sung  with  fervor  in 
schools  and  Christian  assemblies.     Poems  of  a  more  classic  poetic 
flavor  are  addressed  to  the  /i/era/i.     Pri.e  essays  treating  of  the  sub- 
ject are  prmted  and  distributed;   notices  and  memorials  are  posted 
m  public  places ;  more  formal  petitions  to  those  in  authority  are  pre- 
sented; resolutions  are  passed  by  mission  meetings  and  conferences;  < 
I    *  ^*'  f'^totor.  March  19.  .898.  p.  406;    T/,,  Missio.iary  Rr.iew  of  the  WorlJ 
S;r;;;?898!;V6"."=  ^^-'^-'-^••^^^"^3.  .898.  p.  .o.  ;  T,.  In,.p.n,.n, 

'  The  Missionary  Herald,  December,  1897,  p.  514. 

»  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  April,  1898,  p.  300. 

h.l ,     it^°"u''"o  P'^'^y'"'^"  ^""'°"  °f  the  United  States,  at  its  annual  meeting 
new  m  Shanghai,  September,  1895,  after  full  discussion,  reaffirmed  its  former  attitude 
opposition  to  foot-binding.      The  Messenger  (Shanghai),  October,  ,895.  p.  158. 
I  he  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Central  China  Mission  of  the  American  Methodist 


II   «• 


,1! 


i  ! 


364 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


\  I 


and  direct  appeals  to  God  in  prayer  are  made  by  hundreds  of  de- 
voted missionaries  and  Chinese  Christians,  imploring  Him  to  hasten 
the  overthrow  of  this  evil.  Then,  again,  there  is  the  quiet  but  no 
doubt  effective  influence  of  a  well-shaped  shoe  constantly  worn  in  the 
presence  of  Chinese  women,  as  an  object-lesson  of  comeliness  and 
good  taste.  "  I  think  we  should  dress  our  feet  neatly,"  writes  a  mis- 
sionary lady,  "lest  the  natives  should  say  that  they  are  untidy  as  well 
as  large."  In  the  same  line  of  appeal  to  motives  the  power  of  which 
cannot  be  questioned  is  the  effort  to  provide  a  type  of  Chinese  shoe 
which  will  secure  a  minimum  of  offense  to  the  sensibilities  with  a  ma.\i- 
mum  of  room  to  the  extremities.  The  prize  competition  for  a  pleasing 
model  shoe,  before  refened  to,  is  thus  explained.^ 

Special  use  is  made  of  the  powerful  agency  of  literature,  and  the 

cooperation  of  the  native  press  in  some  instances  has  been  secured. 

Illustrated  booklets  and  tracts  also  have  been 

Some  help  from  issued.2  A  poem  has  h  written  by  Mrs.  Chen, 
unexpected  lourcei.  of  Hangchow,  and  translated  by  Dr.  Edkins.^  k 
still  more  remarkable  contribution  is  an  appeal 
against  foot-binding,  written  in  VVenli,  the  classic  language  of  Chinese 
students,  by  Mr.  Chow,  of  Suichaufu  (Suifu),  who  is  himself  a  member 
of  the  literati,  and  whose  strenuous  indictment  of  the  custom  is  re- 
garded, considering  its  author,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  based  upon  Confu- 
cian and  Chinese  ethics,  as  a  very  remarkable  and  influential  document.* 

Episcopal  Church,  held  at  Kiukiang,  October,  1894,  convened  in  mass-meeting  for 
the  discussion  of  the  question.  The  outcome  was  an  anti-foot-binding  movement 
inaugurated  in  a  hopeful  and  enthusiastic  spirit.  The  C/itnese  Recorder,  May,  1895, 
p.  244. 

The  Hinghua  Conference  of  the  same  Church  gave  expression  to  no  uncertain 
sentiment  concerning  what  it  called  "  an  accursed  custom."  The  Chinese  Recotuier, 
July,  1897,  p.  343. 

At  the  Woman's  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission,  held  at  Peking, 
papers  we-e  read  deprecating  the  evils  resulting  from  this  practice.  IVoman's  Work 
in  the  Far  East,  May,  1897,  p.  82. 

The  Annual  Methodist  Episcopal  Conference  in  North  China,  which  assembleJ 
September  15,  1897,  at  Peking,  took  action  that  "  all  preachers  -..lOuld  keep  their 
families  free  from  the  practice,  and  that  they  should  exhort  all  church-members  to 
abandon  it  in  their  households."— An  article  on  "  Our  Work  in  North  China,"  by 
the  Rev.  S.  L.  Baldwin,  D.D.,  in  The  Christian  Advocate  (New  York),  Deccmler 
2,  1897. 

1   The  Chinese  Recorder,  July,  1897,  pp.  321,  322. 

n  One  by  Pastor  Kranz,  and  another  by  Mr.  Sez,  the  native  pastor  of  a  church 
at  Shanghai,  are  well  known. 

»  It  is  published  in  IVoman's  IVork  in  'he  Far  East,  August,  1894,  p.  30. 

*  The  Chinese  Recorder,  December,  1896,  p.  584;  July,  1897,  p.  323. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  305 

It  is  being  distributed  by  tens  of  thousands  i.i  Western  China.  Other 
prominent  men  have  added  supplementary  and  confirmatory  state- 
ments, so  that  in  its  present  form  it  is  somewhat  of  a  consensus,  with 
the  imprimatur  of  the  literati?- 

An  interesting  compilation  might  be  made  of  the  views  of  Chinese 
advocates  of  the  reform.      At  a  conference  of  native  preachers  con- 
nected r;ith  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  held  at  Wusueh, 
Hupeh  Province,  the  practice  was  strongly  con-       Native  chrittum 
damned.     One  of  the  preachers  "  deeply  regretted      "^'""'"fy*"  *"•" 
that  the  light  of  the  Gospel  had  come  to  him  too 
late  to  save  his  daughters  from  the  pain  they  had  suffered."  2    The 
address    of    Mrs.  Shie,   at    Kiukiang,  has   been   already  mentioned 
(p.  360).     A  Chinese  woman  was  a  successful  competitor  for  the  prize 
essay  at  Shanghai,  in  1896.     Her  treatment  of  the  theme  was  thor- 
ough and  spirited.3     Among  the  papers  presented  at  the  Woman's 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  at  Peking  was  one  by 
Mrs.  Wang,  who  apparently  discussed  the  subject  with  a  spice  of 
Chinese  humor.*     Dr.  Kin,  a  medical  officer  of  the  Military  College 
of  Tientsin,  has  delivered  a  lecture  on  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  foot- 
binding,  which  he  characterizes  as  "  hcrrid  and  most  barbarous."     An 
abstract  of  his  lecture  may  be  found  in  the  Woman's  Missionary  Friend, 

1  The  correspondent  of  The  Spectator,  previously  mentioned,  has  the  following 
paragraph  in  his  letter:  "Chinese  literati  are  writing  tracts  against  foot-binding; 
Chang  Chih  Tung,  the  one  incorruptible  viceroy  of  China,  and  the  most  respected, 
is  circulating  a  tract  with  a  preface  by  himself;  whilst  Kung  Hui  Chung,  one  of  the 
lineal  descendants  of  Confucius,  writes  :  '  I  have  always  had  my  unquiet  thoughts 
about  foot-binding,  and  felt  pity  for  the  many  sufferers.  Yet  I  could  not  venture 
to  say  it  publicly.  Now  there  are  happily  certain  benevolent  gentlemen  and  virtu- 
ous daughters  of  ability,  wise  daughters  from  foreign  lands,  who  have  initi.ited  a  truly 
noble  enterprise.  They  have  addressed  our  women  in  animated  exhortations,  and 
founded  a  society  for  the  prohibition  of  foot-binding.'  And  this  descendant  of  the 
great  sage,  hereditary  guardian  of  the  ancient  ways,  does  not  denounce  the  foreign 
ladies,  but  is  collecting  their  tracts  and  himself  circulating  what  he  thinks  the  best 
bits  put  together  out  of  them.  "-77/^  Spectator,  March  19,  1898,  pp.  406,  407. 

2  The  following  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Conference:  "  The 
preachers  desire  to  say  that  they  hold  the  practice  of  foot-binding  to  be  a  very  hard- 
hearted  and  hurtful  one,  an  offense  against  the  handiwork  of  God,  and  therefore  a 
sm,  an  injury  to  a  parent's  love,  a  worldly  custom,  and  opposed  to  reason.  They 
request  the  members  to  pray  for  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  this  matter,  and 
to  act  m  accordance  with  that  guidance:  so  that  if  He  make  it  clear  to  them  that 
bmdmg  ,s  lawful,  to  continue  binding;  but  if  He  show  them  that  it  is  wrong,  to 
abolish  it."-  T/,,  Illustrated  Missionary  ,yeu<s,  October,  1894,  p.  153. 

*  The  Chronicle,  September,  1896,  p.  211. 

♦  "Mm.  W«ng,  who,  three  -/ears  ago,  decided  to  consecrate  her  feet  to  the 


|fl 


tf! 


n 
II 


306 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


October,  1897,  p.  113.  He  there  announces  his  purpose  to  found  a 
sc'iiool  for  Chinese  non-Christians  where  no  children  with  bound  feet 
will  be  received.* 

Surely  the  power  of  missions  to  work  a  social  revolution  by  their 
unique  and  persuasive  methods,  and  to  discredit  an  evil  custom,  however 
strongly  entrenched,  has  here  a  brilliant  illustra- 
The  approachinc       {Jon.     U  cannot  be  said  that  foot-binding  is  to 
custom.  any  noticeable  extent  abolished  m  that  vast  em- 

pire, yet  it  is  manifestly  true  that  nothing  has  ever 
so  disturbed  its  sway  over  Chinese  society  as  this  quiet' missionary 
crusade.  In  time,  perhaps  much  sooner  than  we  expect,  it  will  be 
entirely  banished  and  despised  as  a  relic  of  ignorance  and  barbarism. 
When  that  day  comes  there  can  be  no  uncertainty  as  to  who  began 
the  assault,  and  to  whom  the  chief  honor  of  the  victory  belongs. 


7.  Promoting  Prison  Reforms,  and  Mitigating  Brutal  Pun- 
ishments.— A  humane  code  of  penal  administration,  and  the  punish- 
ment of  criminals  by  methods  which  will  encourage  reformation,  are 
now  among  the  recognized  insignia  of  civilization.  Christian  humani- 
tarianism  deserves  the  credit  of  having  introduced  these  amendments 
into  the  modem  code  of  penolog^'.^  We  are  especially  indebted  to  the 
efforts  of  John  Howard  *  and  Elizabeth  Fry  *  for  early  and  memorable 
services  in  behalf  of  prisoners.  The  reform  has  come  at  a  compara- 
tively late  period  in  the  world's  history,  and  has  progressed  slowly. 
The  Bastille,  and  other  overcrowded  prisons,  were  found  in  France  as 
late  as  the  eighteenth  century,  while  M/rfs  de  cachet  were  still  in  use, 
and  even  at  the  close  of  that  centiuy  the  dungeon,  the  torture  chamber, 
and  the  oubliette  were  not  wholly  abolished.^ 

While  Christianity  devotes  most  of  its  energies  to  the  creation  and 
nourishment  of  a  social  morality  in  harmony  with  Scripture  standards 

Lord,  and  who,  at  our  last  Conference,  said  regretfully  that  her  little  toes  still  be- 
longed to  the  devil,  as  she  could  not  straighten  them  out,  spoke  of  the  suffering  en- 
dured by  little  girls  during  the  first  stages  of  foot-binding."— fF<»»»a«'j  Work  in 
the  Far  East,  May,  1897,  p.  82. 

1  Woman's  Missionary  Friend,  August,  1897,  p.  42.  Cf.  also  for  another  ex- 
pression of  native  opinion,  ibid.,  October,  1896,  p.  99,  and  Woman's  Work  in  the 
Far  East,  August,  1894,  pp.  35-37- 

«  Brace,  "Gesta  Christi,"  p.  400. 

3  Horn  near  London,  1 726;  died  of  the  plague  at  Kherson,  Russia,  1790. 

«  Born  near  Norwich,  England,  1 780;  died  in  1845. 

^  Wines,  "Punishment  and  Reformation."  Cf.  chaps,  iv.  and  v.  for  a  succinct 
account  of  the  cruel  devices  of  barbaric  penology  which  were  formerly  in  vogue. 


flai: 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  307 

as  the  best  safeguard  of  human  welfare,  yet  it  does  not  neglect  the  task 
of  rescuing  degenerates.     It  is  of  its  very  essence  that  it  cannot  give 
up  any  section  of  society  as  hopelessly  lost,  or  be 
complacently  content  with  even  a  certain  per-   Tht  Mformtd  ptnojojy 
centage  of  social  waste.     On  the  contrary,  it  is        ChrittJaninit. 

not  wtUmg  that  any  should  perish."     It  must 
therefore  have  its  ministry  of  instruction  and  hope  even  to  prisoners. 
Prison  Reform  Associations,  however,  all  date  from  the  present  century! 
European  Prison  Congresses  were  held  on  the  Continent  as  early  as 
1846,  but  the  present  organization,  with  its  broader  international  basis, 
assembled  for  the  first  time  in  London,  as  late  as  1 87  2.     The  American 
National  Prison  Association  was  organized  in  1870,  but  local  State 
associations  were  of  eariier  date.»     Great  reforms  have  been  instituted, 
yet  in  certain  aspects  there  is  still  in  many  places  a  call  for  better 
things.2    The  true  spirit  of  a  prison  system,  and  the  prime  essential  to 
Its  highest  success,  were  clearly  announced  by  General  Brinkerhoff,  the 
President  of  the  National  Prison  Association  of  the  United  States,  in 
his  Annual  Address  for  1897.3     In  striking  contrast  with  this  noble 
sentiment  is  the  fact  that  at  present  all  religious  influence  or  instruction 
seems  to  be  ruled  out  in  French  reformatory  methods,  if  a  recent  inci- 
dent truly  represents  the  status.* 

1  Cf.  articles  by  the  Rev.  George  S.  Mott,  on  "Christo-Penology,"  in  Tht  Neu, 
York  Observer,  October  15  and  22,  1896. 

»  The  Outlook,  March  13,  1897,  p.  726;  December  18,  1897,  p.  937. 

>  After  emphasizing  the  importance  of  moral  and  religious  education  in  our 
public  schools  as  a  preventive  of  crime,  he  continued  as  follows:  "In  this  last 
message  I  want  to  put  it  on  record,  with  all  the  emphasis  I  can  command,  that  if 
we  are  to  make  any  large  progress  in  the  reformation  of  prisons,  or  in  the  preven- 
tion of  crime,  or  in  the  betterment  of  mankind,  we  must  utilize  more  fully  than  we 
have  heretofore  the  religions  element  which  is  inherent  in  the  universal  heart  of 
man.  .  .  .  If  this  be  true,  then  it  follows,  as  the  night  the  day,  that  every  prison 
officer,  every  teacher  in  our  schools,  and  especially  every  editor  of  a  newspaper 
ought  to  be  profoundly  religious;  for  it  is  only  by  the  education  of  our  people  in 
the  eternal  verities  of  God  and  the  future  that  society  at  its  best  can  be  developed 
and  saved,  and  the  divine  right  of  all  men  to  '  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi. 
ness    can  be  fully  secured."-  The  Outlook,  December  4.  1897.  p.  792. 

«  At  the  meeting  of  the  Prison  Congress  in  Paris,  in  1895.  many  of  the  delegates 
were  invited  by  the  French  Government  to  vii  a  newly  erected  reformatory  school 
at  Aiontesson.  capable  of  accommodating  some  four  hundred  boys.  Mr.  Wraskoy 
chief  of  the  Russian  prison  administration,  after  surveying  the  buildings,  asked' 
And  where  is  your  church  or  chapel  ?  "  The  reply  was :"  We  do  not  need  one.  " 
l-urther  mquiries  revealed  the  fact  that  French  reformatory  institutions  were  in- 
timed  to  Ignore  religious  instruction  in  the  training  they  imparted.  The  Missions  of 
the  norld,  August,  1895,  p.  302. 


a«i8 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Punitive  methods  among  barbarous  and  semi-civilized  nations  are 
still  marked  by  many  shocking  features.*     In  some  sections  of  the 

world  Christian  missionaries  have  been  able  to  do 

A  rtmarkabi*  rwpenM  little  to  change  immemorial  usages,  but  here  and 

prinS^n  jl^To.      there  they  have  succeeded  in  greatly  modifying  or 

abolishing  existing  evils.  Our  survey  may  well 
begin  with  Japan,  where  there  has  been  a  remarkable  response  to 
humanitarian  principles  in  the  matter  of  prison  reformation.  Recent 
statistics  report  1 20  prisons  in  the  empire,  with  80,000  inmates,  a  pro- 
portion of  2  in  every  1000  of  the  population.  All  attempts  at  im- 
provement in  prison  administration  date  within  thirty  years.  In  1869 
an  office  was  created  in  Japan  for  the  supervision  and  direction  of  the 
prison  system,-  and  in  the  following  year  a  reform  code  was  instituted, 
which  was,  however,  quite  too  general  and  indefinite  in  its  provisions 
to  be  of  any  great  practical  service,  although  its  spirit  and  purpose  were 
excellent.  Shortly  after  this  date,  in  1873,  John  C.  Berry,  M.D.,  a 
missionary  of  the  American  Board,  had  his  attention  called  to  the 
sanitary  condition  of  the  Hyogo  Prison,  situated  in  the  suburbs  of 
Kobe.  Its  state  was  at  that  time  found  to  be  so  unsatisfactory  that 
Dr.  Berry  obtained  permission  from  the  authorities  to  inaugurate  some 
reforms.  He  subsequently  secured  a  permit  from  the  Japanese  Minister 
for  Home  Affairs  to  inspect  other  prisons  in  various  places.  This  com- 
pliance on  the  part  of  the  Minister  was  accompanied  by  a  request  that 
a  report  should  be  made  directly  to  him.  Dr.  Berry's  response  was 
published  and  widely  circulated,  and  resulted  in  the  preparation  of  a 
circular  on  the  subject  of  an  improved  penal  system.  This  document, 
largely  a  rescript  of  Dr.  Berry's  elaborate  statement,  may  be  regarded  as 
the  initial  step  in  the  inauguration  by  the  Japanese  Govemm'^nt  of  its 

1  Cf.  Henderson,  "  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Dependent,  Defective, 
and  Delinquent  Classes,"  chap,  xxv.,  for  an  historical  review  of  the  social  treatment 
of  criminals. 

*  The  author  is  indebted  for  this  information,  and  other  data  of  value,  to  an 
article  by  the  Rev.  Kosuke  Tomeoka,  on  "  The  Prison  System  of  Japan,  Past  and 
Present,"  published  in  The  Far  East,  August,  1897.  Mr.  Tomeoka  is  a  graduate 
of  the  Doshisha  College,  and  has  become  greatly  interested  in  prison  reform.  The 
perusal  of  the  volume  by  Dr.  Wines  on  "  Punishme  t  and  Reformation,"  now  trans- 
lated into  Japanese,  had  an  influence  in  quickening  his  desire  to  devote  himself  specially 
to  this  philanthropic  service.  He  visited  America  in  1895,  and  spent  a  year  in  the 
study  of  penology  and  practical  prison  administration.  The  author  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  him  during  this  visit,  and  was  much  impressed  with  his  sincerity  and 
singleness  of  purpose.  Since  his  return  to  Japan  he  has  given  his  attention  to  the 
subject  with  renewed  enthusiasm,  and  is  now,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the 
Buddhists,  serving  as  government  chaplain  for  Sugamo  Prison,  Tokyo. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  nO!* 

present  enlightened  policy  in  prison  administration.'  Further  efforts 
were  characterized  by  important  and  definite  advances,  and  repeated 
revisions  of  prison  regulations,  with  the  appointment  of  responsil,le 
officials  to  carry  them  out.  A  Gove.nment  Training-School  for  Jailers 
was  founded  in  1890. 

In  1891  a  movement  was  begun  in  the  Hokkaido,  the  most  north- 
erly of  the  principal  islands  of  Japan,  which,  with  five  large  prisons, 
had  become  a  sort  of  Botany  Bay.     The  chief 
administrator  of  these  prisons,  appointed  in  that    Pri.on  r.form.  i„  ,h. 
year,  was  Mr.  Oinue,  whose  conception  of  his  duty  Hokk.ido. 

.seems  to  have  been  characterized  by  intelligent 
discernment  and  much  practical  wisdom.     His  view  of  the  moral, 
intellectual,  and  physical  needs  of  his  wards  led  him  to  institute  a 
system  of  instruction  and  leligious  ministry  which  produced  the  happiest 
results.     The  care  of  the  prisoners  was  handed  over  to  Christian  chap- 
lains ;  Sabbath-schools  and  Bible  classes  were  established,  at  which  the 
attendance  was  entirely  voluntary ;  lectures  and  other  profitable  enter- 
tainments were  provided ;   good  literature  was  put  into  circulation ; 
magazines  dealing  especially  with  the  subject  of  prison  reform  and 
helpful  ministry  to  the  criminal  classes  were  started ;  and  the  whole 
movement  was  along  the  advanced  lines  of  humanitarian  penology. 
An  exceedingly  interesting  account  of  this  effort,  under  the  title  of 
"  Applied  Christianity  in  the  Hokkaido,"  has  been  given  by  the  Rev. 
William  W.  Curtis,  a  missionar>'  of  the  American  Board,  then  located 
at  Sendai,  but  now  at  Sapporo.-'     In  his  missionary  tours  Mr.  Curtis 
has  visited  all  the  prisons  of  the  Hokkaido,  and  inspected  them  thor- 
oughly, receiving  special  courtesies  from  Superintendent  Oinue.     His 
estimate  of  the  whole  system  is  high,  and  the  results  of  the  ministry  of 
Christian  chaplains  have  commanded  the  respect  of  the  Japanese  offi- 
cials.    While  Gospel  instruction  is  not  made  in  any  sense  compulsory, 
and  in  fact  goes  on  side  by  side  with  moral  lectures  based  upon  Con- 
fucian and  Buddhist  classics,  yet  its  influence  has  been  great,  and  the 

»  The  roforms  suggested  in  this  circular  cover  the  following  points  •  "  i  The 
sanuary  condition  of  the  prisons,  t.  The  training  of  prison  officers,  x.  The 
classification  of  criminals  according  to  their  age  and  the  nature  of  their  crime.  4. 
Prisoners  shall  be  duly  paid,  provided  the  wages  be  laid  aside  for  their  benefit  on 
the.r  release  from  confinement.  5.  Criminals  shall  be  taught  better,  rather  than 
subjected  to  cruel  punishment.  6.  Religious  instruction  shall  be  given  to  prisoners 
7.  Inson  architecture  shall  be  improved."- r/}. />,r  ^^x^  August.  1897.  p.  335. 
W  ^t  uT"""^'  ""'"'"''  •'""""y  ""-^  February,  .894.  The  article  has  also 
been  pubhshed  as  a  leaflet  by  the  American  Board,  and  in  The  Japan  Evanselistio, 
April  and  June,  1894.     Cf.  also  Th,  Misuonary  Herald,  November.  1894.%  486. 


i  It 


It 


MH 


MO 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


S      •; 


fact  of  its  acceptability  is  encouraging.  In  one  of  the  prisons  Mr. 
Curtis  found  510  prisoners  studying  the  Bible,  and  148  of  them  were 
following  a  course  of  daily  Bible  readings  published  in  a  Japanese 
Christian  periodical.  A  magazine  called  The  Sympathy  was  issued  by 
these  faithful  instructors,  and  had  a  large  circulation  among  the  in- 
mates of  the  prisons.  A  Journal  of  Prison  Reform  was  also  establifhed 
for  the  advocacy  of  an  enlightened  policy  in  the  management  of  prisons. 
A  Japanese  Christian  has  the  honor  of  being  a  pioneer  in  this 
philanthropic  ministration  to  prisoners.      Mr.  T.  Hara,  one  of  the 

earliest  converts,  was  baptized  in  1874,  and,  after 

A  japMtic  friend  of     ^  remarkable  experience  of  providential  prepara- 

priioneri.  (ion  for  this  service,  has  become  a  devoted  and 

energetic  worker  on  behalf  of  this  hitherto  neg- 
lected class.  His  first  position  as  moral  instructor  was  in  the  "  Receiv- 
ing Prison,"  located  at  Hyogo,  a  suburb  of  Kobe,  for  the  temporary 
detention  of  prisoners  before  they  are  sent  to  their  permanent  place  of 
incarceration.  Subsequently  he  went  to  the  newly  established  prison 
in  Kushiro  Province,  Hokkaido,  where  all  the  inmates  are  sent  for  a 
period  of  not  less  than  twelve  years.  There  he  was  appointed  a  prison 
chaplain  by  Mr.  Oinue,  and  was  joined  later  by  Mr.  Tomeoka,  who 
afterwards  served  in  the  same  capacity  in  the  Sorachi  Prison.  Others 
were  assigned  to  similar  positions— Mr.  Otsuka  to  Kushiro,  Mr.  Makino 
to  Tokachi,  and  Mr.  Yamamoto  to  Abashiri.  All  of  these  young  men 
are  graduates  of  the  Doshisha.  Thus  five  large  prisons  of  the  Hok- 
kaido became  places  of  Christian  instruction  in  charge  of  Japanese  chap- 
lains.*    These  devoted  officials  were  accustomed  to  take  an  interest  in 


1;  > 


1  Mr.  Curtis  calls  attention  to  some  interesting  statistics,  which  we  quote  from 
"  A  Chapter  of  Mission  History  in  Modern  Japan,"  by  the  Rev.  James  H.  Pettee. 
They  are  found  in  an  article  by  Chaplain  Hara  in  The  Journal  of  Prison  Reform^ 
and  were  compiled  from  data  gathered  by  a  canvass  of  the  convicts  at  Kabato.  They 
yield  the  following  results:  "The  1449  inmates  are  classified  from  an  educational 
standpoint  as  follows;  number  of  educated,  66;  of  somewhat  educated,  319;  of 
illiterate,  1064,  showing  that  the  criminal  classes  are  very  largely  illiterate.  These 
three  tlassfs  are  considered  from  a  religious  standpoint  with  the  following  result 
(the  term  'religious  '  of  course  includes  the  various  beliefs  of  the  land) ;  Of  the  66 
educated  men,  34  are  religious,  25  somewhat  so,  and  but  7  wholly  irreligious.  Of 
the  319  somewhat  educated,  80  are  religious,  142  somewhat  so,  and  97  wholly  irreli- 
gious. Of  the  1064  illiterate  ones,  only  33  tan  be  included  in  the  religious  column, 
233  are  somewhat  inclined  to  religion,  while  798  are  wholly  irreligious.  The  illiter- 
ates are  further  separated  into  those  who  can  and  those  who  cannot  read  the  alphaliet 
(kana').  Of  those  who  cannot  read  it,  only  i  can  be  called  religious,  58  are  some- 
what religious,  while  422  are  wholly  irreligious.  The  table  thus  brings  into  vivid 
light  the  value  of  education  as  preventive  of  crime,  and  the  far  greater  value  of  reli- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


371 


the  welftre  of  their  prisotiers  after  they  were  discharged,  and  to  follow 
them  with  their  sympathy,  counsels,  and  prayers.  Mr.  Hara  sent  out 
upon  a  recent  New  Year's  day  156  postal  cards  to  discharged  prisoners, 
with  a  view  to  maintaining  a  Christian  watchfulness  over  them.  The 
replies  numbered  14J,  and  their  purport  clearly  indicated  that  the  spir- 
itual ministrations  of  the  prison  were  not  lost. 

The  good  work  above  referred  to  has  received,  let  us  hope,  only  a 
temporary  check  through  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Oinuc,  owing  to  dis- 
satisfaction in  high  quarters  with  his  methods,  and 
the  crowding  out  of  the  Christian  chaplains  by    *»  •mif ht«n«d  priion 
Buddhist  interference.     The  present  superinten-    •'"•ucnnjVp'.'i!""*'' 
dent  in  the  Hokkaido,  Mr.  Hata,  is,  however, 
kindly  disposed  towards  Christianity,  and  extended  every  courtesy  to 
the  Rev.  G.  M.  Rowland,  of  Sapporo,  upon  a  recent  evangelistic  visit 
to  one  of  the  prisons.     It  may  safely  be  said  that  the  striking  results 
of  introducing  evangelical  instruction  in  the  Hokkaido  prisons  vindi- 
cated its  value  in  the  eyes  of  all  unprejudiced  observers  m  Japan.     The 
watchword  of  prison  reform  under  Christian  auspices  has  been  sounded. 
Mr.  Hara  and  his  associates  are  alert  and  active  in  their  efforts  to 
carry  on  their  work  elsewhere,  and  they  have  not  lost  sight  of  the  pris- 
oners who  were  formeriy  under  their  personal  influence.     A  periodical 
has  been  established  by  Mr.  Hara,  which  is  freely  distributed  among 
them.     His  tabulated  statistics  in  regard  to  tliese  discharged  prisoners 
state  that,  of  the  first  one  hundred  names  entered,  ninety-six  are  in  regu- 
lar employment,  and  most  of  them  are  giving  promise  of  becoming  good 
citizens.i     We  find  in  the  Asylum  Record  of  February,  1897,  published 
at  the  Okayama  Orphanage,  an  account  of  the  way  in  which  Mr.  Hara 
met  two  hundred  and  fifty  Hokkaido  convicts  who  were  brought  to 
Sugamo  Prison  to  be  liberated.     He  stood  at  the  prison  door  with 
more  than  a  hundred  jinrikishas,  into  which  he  placed  these  released 
men,  and  conveyed  them  to  his  Home  for  Discharged  Prisoners,  where 
they  passed  their  first  night  of  freedom.     The  next  morning  he  preached 
to  them  an  earnest  sermon,  full  of  love  and  good  advice,  and  the  result 
was  that  fifty-six  of  them  decided  to  remain  in  Tokyo  and  earn  their 
livelihood  under  his  instruction  and  protection.     Tiie  remainder  de- 
parted to  their  homes  with  hearts  full  of  kindly  feeling  towards  their 
Christian  benefactor.2 

gious  education.     It  may  perchance  have  a  significance  as  bearing  on  the  question 
whether  missionary  work  should  include  educational  as  well  as  evangelistic  methods." 

»  Tht  Missionary  Herald,  June,  1896,  pp.  2,15-237:   Mav,  1898,  p.  191. 

»  Asylum  Record  (Okay  ma),  February,  1897,  p.  7. 


li' 


if 


if 


t   !    j 


379 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Mr.  Hara'i  eflforti  are  attracting  the  attention  of  benevolent  Japanese 
and  foreign  residents,  and  we  trust  that  all  the  aid  he  requires  may 
be  provided.  The  statement  issued  by  him  in  1897  reports  sixty-two 
discharged  prisoners  as  inmates  of  his  Home  in  Tokyo.  In  addition 
he  has  charge  of  109  others,  who  find  employment  elsewhere,  while 
friends  are  looking  after  136  more.>  It  is  not  too  optimistic  to  say 
that  a  kindly  ministry  to  prisoners  is  now  an  established  feature  in 
Japanese  Christian  circles.  Devoted  men  will  be  raised  up  to  engage 
in  the  service,  and  Japanese  Christianity  may  be  trusted  to  appreciate 
its  opportunity  and  discharge  its  igation.  Mr.  Curtis  remarks  that 
Mr.  Hara,  as  truly  as  Neesima,  or  Sawayama,  or  Ishii,  has  found  his 
special  mission. 

Other  efforts  on  behalf  of  prisoners  may  be  chronicled  in  connec 

tion  with  the  Okayama  Orphanage  of  Mr.  Ishii,  where  an  annex  for 

ex-convicts   has  been  established.     A  group  of 

Tht  Horn*  for  \htit  men  in  his  Home  for  Discharged  Prisoners 
■t  Okayama.  >s  presented  \n  the  illustration  facmg  this  page. 

The  unicjue  mc  hods  adopted  in  the  Hokkaido 
have  not  extended  throughout  Japan,  but  here  and  there  are  indications 
that  Christian  ministry  in  the  prisons  is  not  going  to  be  placed  under 
a  ban.  At  Sumoto  Prison  opportunity  has  been  given  for  Christian 
instruction  to  the  inmates.-  At  Morioka  the  Rev.  E.  Rothesay  Miller 
has  al  times  conducted  rrHfT'oi""  "erviccs  in  the  prison.  The  Salva- 
tion Army  has  established  a  Prison-Gate  Home  at  Tokyo,  where  in- 
dustrial education  serves  as  an  aid  in  the  reformation  of  ex-convicts. 
The  Rev.T.  Ito  has  opened  a  Home  for  Discharged  Prisoners  at  Yoko- 
hama, where  spiritual  instruction  is  combined  with  industrial  trainir.^'. 
Before  its  inmates  start  out  for  their  work  in  the  morning  a  Christian 
service  is  held.  Mr.  Miyoshi,  formeriy  President  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Japan,  has  interested  himself  in  the  founding  of  a  Christian  reforma- 
tory for  children  in  Tokyo.' 

Two  things  are  apparent  from  this  survey :  first,  Christian  missions 
have  been  influential  in  hastening  the  introduction  of  an  improved 
prison  system ;  second.  Christian  Japanese  have  been  alert  in  seeking 
the  welfare  of  prironers,  and  befriending  them  when  they  are  dis- 
charged. Japanese  prisons  are  as  yet  in  many  respects  seriously  defec- 
tive, so  much  so  that  British  residents  are  protesting  vigorously  against 

•  The  Japan  Evangelist,  June,  1897,  p.  291.  For  a  biographical  sketch  of  Mr. 
Hara,  see  The  Christian,  June  16,  1898. 

»  The  Japan  Evangelist,  February,  1896,  p.  195. 

*  liiJ.,  December,  1896,  p.  95;  January,  1897,  p.  103. 


n 


! 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


373 


the  possibility  of  their  being  liable  to  incarceration  therein  after  the 
new  international  treaty  goes  into  effect  in  1899.1  No  Oriental  nation, 
however,  can  compare  with  Japan  in  the  excellence  of  its  penal  admin- 
istration.' 

Judicial  and  punitive  methods  in  Korea  were  until  very  recently  scan- 
daious  an.^  cruel  to  an  extent  hardly  credible.  A  change  seems  to  have 
been  brci^.ht  about,  partly  through  the  influence 
of  the  j;  .yanese,  who  have  had  much  to  do  with  lm,  cruelty  to 
shcipi.nor  the  course  of  events  during  the  transitional  prisoner*  in  Korea. 
period  which  has  followed  the  war  between  Japan 
and  China.  Mrs.  Bishop  sufficiently  intimates  from  her  own  personal 
knowledge  the  summary  methods  formerly  in  use  in  the  name  of  justice 
and  for  purposes  of  punishment.^  The  new  clemency  lately  shown 
in  the  trial  and  treatment  of  criminals,  without  the  torture,  intimidation, 
and  coercion  hitherto  practised,  is  referred  to  in  recent  numbers  of  The 
Korean  Repository  as  a  subject  of  congratulation.*  There  is  perhaps 
little  in  this  change  which  can  be  credited  directly  to  missionary  in- 
fluence, yet  it  is  indirectly  traceable  to  the  enlightenment  which  mis- 
sions have  introduced.  In  a  report  of  the  Pyeng  V  mg  station  presented 
in  1897  by  the  Rev.  Graham  Lee,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  he 
states  that  at  Christmas  the  Christians  of  that  place  took  up  a  contribu- 
tion for  the  benefit  of  prisoners  sufl^cient  to  purchase  a  Christmas 
dinner  and  a  book  for  each  inmate  of  the  two  jails.  He  speaks 
of  the  incident  as  exciting  a  feeling  of  wonder  throughout  the  town, 
resuhing  in  the  general  verdict  that  "the  Christians  had  done  a  very 
commendable  thing."  * 

The  judicial  cruelties  and  horrible  punishments  prevalent  in  China 
are  well  known.     A  Chinese  lawyer  in  Hong  Kong,  who  had  been 
educated  in  England,  is  stated  by  Dr.  Graves  to 
have  expressed  the  opinion  that  "  China's  first  and    ch'n«'»  K'eet  need  of 
greatest  need  is  reform  in  her  legal  procedure   "'Tpu°nf.hmT„f " 
and  prison  discipline."  «     So  unalterable  are  Chi- 
nese ways  that  little  has  been  accomplished  in  discrediting  or  mitigating 
these  atrocities.     Christianity  is  not  as  yet  sufficiently  influential  in  the 
empire  to  transform  national  customs,  nor  have  missionary  agents  the 

'  r-i^  i1/<»7  (London),  July  11,  1898. 

>  Cf.  an  article  on  "Japanese  Criminal  Law,"  by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  De  Forest, 
D.D.,  in  The  Congregalionalist,  August  1 8,  1898. 

*  Bishop,  "  Korea  and  Her  Neighbors,"  pp.  264,  265,  441,  450. 

«  The  Korean  Repository,  April,  1896,  p.  170;  November,  1896,  p.  453. 
'  Ibid.,  October,  1897,  p.  366. 

•  Graves,  "  Forty  Years  in  China,"  p.  96. 


r 


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(  r. 


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874 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


I 


prestige  to  enable  them  to  mould  official  opinion.  Here  and  there 
efforts  have  been  made  by  individual  missionaries  to  reach  prisoners 
with  the  Gospel  message  or  through  Christian  literature,  but  that  China 
has  actually  modified  to  any  perceptible  degree  her  barbarous  penal 
system  cannot  be  claimed. 

In  India  the  prevalence  of  English  judicii..  processes,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  humane  prison  system,  are  in  pleasing  contrast  with  former 
punitive  cruelties.^     "  The  influence  of  Christian 

Aneniichteoed        Jaw,"  writes  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Kellogg,  D.D.,  of  the 

treatment  of  criminal*    _       ,  °°  ' 

in  India.  Presbytenan  Mission,  "has  modified  the  treat- 

ment of  criminals  immensely.  Even  in  the  Inde- 
pendent States  barbarous  executions,  as  by  trampling  with  elephants, 
etc.,  have  ended,  though  I  am  told  that  in  the  Native  State  of  Rewa, 
a  few  years  ago  at  least,  a  hand  was  still  cut  off  for  theft."  The  prison 
administration  of  the  British  Government  renders  it  unnecessary  for 
Indian  missionaries  to  attempt  other  than  evangelistic  work  among 
prisoners.  Here  and  there  efforts  of  this  kind  are  reported,  such  as  the 
rrison-Gate  Home  in  Ceylon  established  by  the  Salvation  Army .2  In 
Burma  special  services  are  held  in  some  of  the  jails. 

If  we  cross  to  the  African  Continent,  w ;  find  a  dominant  spirit  of 

cruelty,  culminating  in  inhuman  methods  of  punishment  as  its  most 

dramatic  exemplification.     The  Rev.  T.  R.  Buck- 

The  checking  of       jgy  ^f  ^^  Church  Missionary  Society  in  Uganda, 

punitive  atrocities  in      .  '  .f  o  ) 

Africa.  1"  a  recent  report  gives  a  few  suggestive  intimations 

of  the  change  which  has  come  in  that  country 
since  the  introduction  of  Christianity.  He  writes  of  having  met  in  his 
tours  men  and  women  whose  eyes  had  been  plucked  out  and  their 
ears  cut  off  by  order  of  those  in  authority,  often  in  punishment  for 
trifling  offenses.'  Who  can  restrain  expres:  'r-ns  of  thankfulness,  while 
reading  of  these  mutilations,  that  the  authority  of  British  law  and  the 
guidance  of  Christian  truth  are  now  firmly  established  in  Uganda? 
Unhappily,  it  cannot  be  claimed  that  European  administration  in  all  sec- 
tions of  Africa  has  been  free  from  injustice.  In  some  instances  there  is 
reason  to  fear  that  there  has  been  inhumanity,  as  recent  events  in  the 
Congo  State  indicate.  The  action  of  the  King  of  Belgium,  in  1896,  in 
establishing  a  Commission  for  the  protection  of  Congo  natives  from 
the  cruelties  of  traders  and  irresponsible  State  officials,  shows  plainly 
that  some  intervention  of  the  kind  was  demanded.     This  Commission, 

1  Dubois,  "  Hindu  Manners,  Customs,  and  Ceremonies,"  p.  673. 

*  The  Army  reports  in  all  eleven  such  institutions  in  foreign  lands. 

*  "  Report  of  Church  Missionary  Society,  1897,"  p.  137. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS  375 

SO  far  as  nominated  by  King  Leopold,  was  composed  exclusively  of 
missionaries,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  authority  vested  in  its  mem- 
bers will  enable  them  to  exercise  an  effective  guardianship  over  the 
Congo  people.i  A  communication  from  Dr.  Sims,  of  Leopoldvilie 
a  member  of  the  Commission,  reports:  "The  State  is  doing  better 
towards  us  and  the  natives,  and  officers  and  traders  are  being  constantly 
punished.  This  is  cheering  intelligence  to  those  who  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  the  unbridled  license  formeriy  shown  by  the  lower  offi- 
cials of  the  Congo  State  towards  the  natives  and  the  missionaries  who 
sought  to  befriend  them.  A  new  era  of  safety  and  freedom  from  op- 
pression seems  to  have  begun  for  the  native  Congo  people  "  -'  The 
Rev.  George  Grenfell,  of  the  English  Baptist  Mission,  who  is  Secretary 
of  the  Commission,  gives  an  account,  in  a  recent  letter,  of  his  successful 
efforts  to  rescue  from  a  cruel  death  three  victims  who  had  been  con- 
demned on  the  charge  of  witchcraft.^ 

The  horrors  of  the  West  Coast,  ind  the  shairbles  of  Kumassi  are 
happily  under  the  ban  of  civilized  authority.     It  is  an  undeniable  fact 
that  missionaries  have  had  much  to  do  with  the 
banishment  of  penal  cruelties  in  Africa.     In  Mada-  «,   u 

,  '■a.y^a.     Work  among  prisoners 

gascar  work  among  pnsoners  is  a  r--ognized  in  Madagascar, 
branch  of  missionary  service.  At  Fit.  antsoa 
the  agents  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  have  a  Gospel  service 
in  the  prison  every  Sunday  morning,  besides  visitations  during  the 
week.4  The  Rev.  James  Sibree  (L.  M  S.),  of  Antananarivo,  writes  to 
the  author:  "Formeriy  soldiers  were  burned  alive  for  desertion,  and 
theft  in  markets  was  punished  by  immediate  stoning  to  death  •  but  both 
have  long  been  forbidden  by  law.  The  old  custom  of  inflicting  the 
death  penalty  for  numerous  offences,  accompanied  by  the  reducing  of 
wife  and  children  to  slavery,  is  now  obsolete  and  replaced  by  mild  and 
merciful  punishments."  In  Morocco,  under  Mohammedan  rule,  fiend- 
isli  outrages  upon  prisoners  are  reported  from  time  to  time  »  Little 
can  be  accomplished  where  the  authority  of  Islam  is  supreme,  to  alle- 

>  The  text  of  the  decree  issued  by  King  Leopold  constituting  a  Commission  for 
the  protecnon  of  n.fves  in  the  Congo  State  is  printed  in  The  Baptist  Miss,onary 

nri"""'      '^'  P-  ^°°-     ^'-  '^'"  ^'"f'P'"d,„t,  October  8,  1896. 
J  he  Baptist  A/issioHary  Afagazine,  October,  1897,  p.  543 

l^/i'lT"""""^  ""'"''^ '^ ""  ^"^'''^  Missionary  Society  (London).  February. 

*  The  Chronicle,  May.  1894,  p.  122. 
X^L^t'JT^ir'^ f ?'"''"'  J'«-''^y-F'«bruary.  ,898.  pp.  58-60.     See  also  a 
of  nrisln?  ""^  "°*'^"*  Association  to  the  British  Foreign  Office  on  the  treatment 
Of  prisoners  m  Morocco,  published  in  The  Mail  (London).  August  5,  1898. 


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376  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGR.  ^S 

viate  these  horrors.  The  stoi  hich  Turkish  prisons  could  tell  of 
what  has  happened  within  thi  .  doors,  even  during  the  past  decade, 
would  make  the  world  shudder. 

The  thoughtful  reader  will  understand  why  prison  reform  must 
necessarily  occupy  a  secondary  place  among  the  activities  of  missions. 
It  is,  for  several  reasons,  a  side  issue,  but  enough  has  been  said  to  show 
that  the  spirit  of  compassion  is  inherent  in  Christianity,  and  that  tlie 
tendency  of  missionary  influence  is  to  plant  in  society  a  public  senti- 
ment which  will  be  strongly  opposed  to  the  inhuman  treatment  of  crim- 
inals. Cruelty  is  inevitably  ostracized  from  a  Christian  community, 
and  humanitarian  principles  are  sure  finally  to  gain  the  ascendancy. 


8.  Securing  Humane  Ministrations  to  the  Poor  and  Depen- 
dent.-In  his  "  Christian  Charity  in  the  Ancient  Church,"  Dr.  Uhlhorn 
has  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  growth  of  a  benevo- 
Chri.ti.nity  qui'k"*    jg^t  gpjrit  towards  the  poor  and  dependent  in  early 

A  compassionAte  spirit  *  e        t  \ 

towards  the  poor  and    Christian  history.'     The  same  story  of  softened 
dependent.  \^^z.\\s.  and  compassionate  ministrations   can  be 

traced  to-day  wherever  Christianity  has  been  planted  throughout  tlie 
modem  heathen  world.  "The  Christian  religion,"  writes  Mr.  Lecky, 
"  was  designed  to  be  a  religion  of  philanthropy,  and  love  was  repre- 
sented as  the  distinctive  test  or  characteristic  of  its  true  members.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  has  probably  done  more  to  quicken  the  affections 
of  mankind,  to  promote  piety,  to  create  a  pure  and  merciful  ideal, 
than  any  other  influence  that  has  ever  acted  upon  the  worid."  • 

Let  us  begin  with  a  nation  whose  reputation  for  callousness  in  the 

presence  of  suffering  is  notorious.     The  Chinese,  of  all  the  peoples  to 

be  found  in  the  worid  who  profess  an  ethical  con- 

Teachinj  leisons  of     sciousness  and  claim  to  be  civilized,  seem  to  have 

.ympathyt^^Chine..     ^^^  j^^^^  ^^^^^^j  compassion  for  helplessness  and 

misery.  This  statement  is  not  intended  to  con- 
vey the  idea  that  there  are  no  instincts  of  kindness  and  compassion  in 
any  individual  Chinese  heart,  but  that  a  non-sympathetic  attitude  of 
stolid  indifference  is  almost  universal,  so  much  so  as  to  be  regarded  as 
a  national  characteristic.  There  are  here  and  there  native  asylums  for 
lepers,  for  the  blind,  and  for  foundlings,  but  in  many  instances  these 

1  Pp.  141-159.  Cf.  also  Schmidt,  "  The  Social  Results  of  Early  Christianity, " 
pp.  237-275  ;  Storrs,  "  The  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity,"  pp.  273.  322,  495.  496- 

a  Lecky.  "  History  of  the  Rise  and  Influence  of  the  Spirit  of  Rationalism  m  Eu- 
rope "  (American  ed.,  1888},  vol.  i.,  pp.  329.  11^- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  377 

can  be  traced  either  in  their  origin  or  their  present  activities  to  the 
stimulus  of  missions.!  As  regards  the  efforts  on  behalf  of  foundUngs 
and  blind  girls,  there  is  frequently  grave  cause  for  suspecting  motives  far 
from  benevolent  in  character.2  We  have  good  evidence  that  Christian 
missions  have  inaugurated  a  significant  change  in  the  traditional  msensi- 
bllity  of  the  Chinese  towards  helpless  dependents.  They  have  certainly 
established  a  new  standard  of  consideration  for  the  unfortunate  classes. 
Facilities  for  ministering  to  the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  foundlings, 
the  aged  and  feeble,  the  distressed  poor,  lunatics,  and  the  victims  of 
sudden  calamity,  are  illustrations  in  point. 

The  miseries  of  the  blind  in  China,  where  they  are  found  in  large 
numbers   as   compared   with    European   countries,  are   truly  pitiful, 
as  all  diseases  of  the  eye  are  beyond  the  skill  of 
Chinese   practitioners.      Uncleanly   habits,  total  a  „ot.bie  work  for  the 
neglect,  exposure  to  the  fierce  glare  of  the  sun,  and         blind  in  China, 
the  ravages  of  disease  are  responsible  for  either 
the  total  blindness  or  defective  vision  of  a  vast  throng  in  that  empire. 
An  estimate  by  Miss  C.  F.  Gordon-Cumming,  who  has  interested  herself 
on  behalf  of  this  neglected  class,  is  that  there  are  about  five  hundred 
thousand  blind  persons  in  China,  or  one  in  every  six  hundred  of  the  pop- 
ulation, and  even  this  proportion  is  thought  by  some  to  be  too  small.3 

1  "  I  think  I  am  right  in  stating  that  Chinese  foun.lling  asylums  unconnected 
with  Christian  missions,  an.I  the  charitable  distribution  of  medicines,  clothing,  etc., 
to  the  poor,  owe  their  origin,  or,  at  any  rate,  their  present  life  and  energy,  to  the 
high  example  and  influence  of  Christian  charity,  especially  in  connection  with  our 
medical  missions. "-The  Ven.  Arthur  E.  Moule,  B.D.  (C.  M.  S.),  Archdeacon  of 
Shanghai,  China. 

"  In  the  famine  of  1889  it  was  not  until  the  missionaries  had  been  distributing 
funds,  contributed  by  foreigners,  for  several  months,  that  the  Chinese  Government 
began  to  extend  relief  in  a  systematic  way.  BenevoU-nt  institutions  and  the  phil. 
anthropic  spirit  have  always  existed  among  the  Chinese,  but  a  new  impetus  has 
been  given  to  kindly  deeds  by  the  notable  charities  of  the  missionary  organiza- 
tions."-Rev.  Gilbert  Reid,  Peking,  China. 

"The  Chinese  li.ive  some  benevolent  instincts,  but  their  development  is  limited 
and  fitful.  Christianity  at  once  expands  their  narrow  view  of  charity.  It  encour. 
ages  the  attempt  to  do  something  for  particular  cases.  Thus  far  the  wider  problem 
of  dealmg  with  masses,  and  with  tendencies  by  way  of  prevention,  is  quite  too  large 
for  the  mfan-  church  to  grapple  with,  but  the  force  is  there. "-Rev.  .\rthur  H 
Sm.th  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Pang-Chuang,  China. 

»  "  As  a  whole,  the  Chinese  seem  to  think  that,  besides  begging,  the  only  occu- 
pation  open  to  blind  men  is  fortune-telling,  and  to  blind  women  prostitution,  and 
Irom  this  sad  alternative  they  are  not  even  protected  by  the  native  asylums. "- 
Records  of  the  Shanghai  Conference,  1890,"  p.  298. 
>  Work  and  Werkers  in  the  Miuion  Fidd,  November,  1893,  p.  471. 


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378  CIlKISTIAy  MISSIOXS  AND  SOCIAL  PHOGKESS 

The  calamity  of  blindness  among  the  Chinese  seems  to  be  attended 
with  the  most  lamentable  incidental  results  to  morality.  "  The  morals 
of  the  adult  blind  are  appalling,"  writes  a  missionary,  so  that  effort  on 
their  behalf  is  not  only  humanitarian,  but,  if  successful,  it  is  crowned 
with  their  rescue  from  moral  ruin. 

The  Mission  to  the  Blind,  organized  by  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Murray, 
of  Peking,  is  entitled  to  special  notice  and  commendation  in  this  con- 
nection      Mr.  Murray's  original  purpose  in  China,  where  he  went  in 
,  87 1 ,  was  to  enter  the  service  of  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland, 
as  a  colporteur.     He  took  up  his  residence  in  Peking  in  1873,  and, 
while  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  visited  many  places  and 
often  spent  days  in  the  streets  of  the  large  cities.     He  became  much 
interested  in  the  blind,  whom  he  met  everj-where,  and  who  seemed  to 
be  not  often  reached  by  ordinary  mission  agencies.      In  response  to 
-I  personal  impulse  to  devote  himself  to  their  welfare,  he  began  to 
think  and  plan  how  he  could  benefit  them,  and  a  few  years  later 
commenced    his   special   mission   on    their   behalf.     His  efforts   to 
produce  some  available  method  for  their  instruction  resulted  m  what 
is  practically  a  most  useful  adaptation  of  the  existing  systems  to 
Chinese  uses.     He  first  reduced  the  number  of  syllabic  sounds  in 
that  language  to  408,  and  having  assigned  raised  symbols  to  these 
sounds,  he  has  been  able  to  facilitate  reading  by  the  blind  through  the 
sense  of  touch.     His  system  is  admirably  suited  to  the  Mandarm,  and 
in  time  may  possibly  be  adapted  to  other  Chinese  dialects,  although  the 
use  of  romanized  letters  for  this  purpose  is  at  present  more  curient  in 
South  China.     Some  difference  of  opinion  exists  as  to  the  comparative 
availability  of  the  two  systems,  but  for  the  Mandarin  dialect  of  North 
China  Mr  Murray's  method  seems  to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  success, 
and  his  work  among  the  blind  has  enlisted  the  hearty  admiration  and 
support  of  all  who  are  familiar  with  it.>     Mr.  Murray's  visits  to  (,reat 
Britain  have  enabled  him,  through  the  assistance  of  friends,  greatly  to 
increase  the  mechanical  facilities  of  his  plant,  and  to  extend  its  phil- 
nnthropic  activities.     His  School  for  the  Blind  in  Peking  has  become  m, 
of  the  missionarv  features  of  the  place,  and  the  generous  cooperation  of 
a  Scotch  committee,  largely  through  the  instrumentality  of  Miss  C.  t. 
Cordon-C'imming,  gives  encouragement  to  hope  for  still  more  extensive 
effort.     H-  is  now  able  to  provide  native  teachers  of  his  system,  who 
can  instruct  the  blind  in  other  places.^ 

I  "Records  of  the  Shanghai  Conference.  1890,"  pp.   302-306;    The  Chomi 
Recorder,  April.  1897,  pp.  185-189. 

i  Articles  upon  Mr.  Murray's  work  will  be  found  in  The  Mtsstonary  K.^'rx 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


379 


There  arc  other  schools  for  the  blind  in  various  sections  of  China. 
That  at  Hankow,  in  the  valley  of  the  Yang-tsc,  which  was  founded  in 
1888  by  Mr.  Crossette,  an  American  missionary, 
and  has  since  been  conducted  by  the  Central  schooii  >nd  aiyiumi  for 
China  Wesleyan  Methodist  Lay  Mission,  is  a  most  th«  •ightitn. 
beautiful  charity,  combining  industrial  work  with 
religious  instruction. *  Another  institution  at  Chinchew,  known  as 
"  Light-for-the-Blind  Hall,"  is  under  the  charge  of  Miss  Graham,  of 
the  English  Presbyterian  Mission,  and  also  has  its  industrial  depart- 
ment. The  Protestant  Episcopal  Mission  supports  an  asylum  for  this 
class  at  Shanghai,  with  sixty  inmates.  Miss  Codrington,  of  the  Church 
of  England  Zenana  Missionary  Society,  has  just  commenced  a  work  for 
the  blind  at  Kucheng,  where  the  new  house  set  apart  for  the  purpose 
was  quickly  filled  with  twenty-eight  inmates.  At  Canton  Dr.  Mary  Niles 
has  a  school  for  blind  girls,  with  twenty-seven  pupils,  a  charity  which  in 
China  is  specially  beneficent  in  its  results.  At  Taiwanfu  (changed  by 
the  Japanese  to  Tainanfu),  on  the  neighboring  Island  of  Formosa,  the 
English  Presbyterians  have  a  school  for  the  blind,  whic  h,  under  the 
faithful  supervision  of  the  Rev.  William  Campbell,  is  truly  a  fountain 
of  blessing  to  that  afflicted  class.  Various  industries  are  taught  to  the 
pupils,  and  they  are  trained  to  be  self-supporting,  self-respecting  Chris- 
tians. Their  usefulness  in  life  is  thus  assured,  while  some  of  them  go 
forth  to  become  organizers  and  teachers  of  similar  institutions  else- 
where.2 

No  reference  to  the  benevolent  work  of  missions  for  the  bhnd  would 
be  complete  without  mention  of  the  medical  and  surgical  services  of 


>  .  II 


of  the  World,  May,  i«97,  pp.  349-353 ;  The  Rniew  of  Missions,  February,  1897, 
pp.  465-471 ;  The  Missionary  Record  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland, 
July,  1896,  pp.  215,  2r6, 

The  discussion  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  Mr.  Murray's  method  as  compared 
with  the  romanized-letter  system  seems  to  have  arisen  partly  as  the  result  of  some 
overstatements  in  advocating  the  superiority  of  the  former  system.  There  are 
no  doubt  excellencies  in  both,  and  while  the  Murray  system  may  be  suited  to  the 
Mandarin  dialect,  it  is  still  an  open  question  as  to  whether  it  is  as  well  adapted  to 
the  southern  dialects  of  China,  where  the  romanized  system  is  in  general  use. 
Those  who  desire  to  look  into  the  merits  of  the  subject  will  find  articles  bearing 
upon  the  matter  in  The  Chinese  Recorder,  July,  1895,  pp.  336-338,  and  June,  1896, 
pp.  270-284.  Cf.  also  "The  Blind  in  China:  A  Criticism  of  Miss  Gordon-Cum- 
ming's  Advocacy  of  the  Murray  Method  "  (London,  Sampson  Low,  Marston  &  Co.). 

'  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  November,  1893,  pp.  471-475  ;  March, 
1896,  pp.  100-105. 

'Johnston,  "China  and  Formosa,"  p.  319;  The  Monthly  Messenger,  Novem- 
•^fi  «89Si  P-  255;  March,  1896,  p.  61. 


(1): 


I  n 


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11 


380 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


missionar)'  physicians.     The  first  operation  for  cataract  in  Manchuria 

was  successfully  performed  by  Dr.  Dugald  Christie,  of  the  Scotch  United 

Presbyterian   Mission,  at  its  hospital   in  Mouk- 

The  work  of  mi..ion.ry  den.i     In  all  parts  of  Chinj  missionary  surgeons 

■urg«on«  in  China.  are  giving  Sight  to  darkened  eyes.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  enter  into  detailed  references  to  such  every- 
day facts  of  their  experience.  Dr.  Douthwaite,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission  at  Chefoo,  in  telling  of  one  of  these  cases  of  restored  vision, 
relates  that  the  grateful  patient,  upon  his  return  home,  gathered  together 
all  the  blind  people  he  could  find,  and  shipped  about  twenty  of  them 
in  a  boat  to  Chefoo,  commending  them  to  the  physician's  care.^  An- 
other pathetic  story  illustrates  the  profound  impression  made  by  the 
surgical  skill  of  our  missionaries.  A  patient  was  successfully  treated 
for  cataract  in  the  London  Mission  Hospital  at  Hankow.  On  his 
return  home  he  was  besieged  by  a  group  of  blind  men,  who  besought 
him  to  lead  them  to  the  foreign  doctor  where  they  could  obtain  the 
same  healing  ministry.  A  strange  procession  of  forty-eight  blind  men 
was  then  formed,  each  one  holding  on  to  a  rope  in  the  hand  of  the  one 
before  him,  and  marched  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to 
Hankow,  where  nearly  all  were  cured,  and  in  some  instances  let  us 
hope  the  higher  blessing  of  spiritual  healing  was  given.^ 

Another  excellent  work  iii  that  for  deaf-mutes.     The  pioneer  effort 

in  China  for  these  unfortunates  was  the  school  of  Mrs.  Mills,  of  the 

American  Presbyterian  Mission  at  Chefoo.     Mrs. 

The  ichooi  for  deaf-  Mills  was  attracted  by  this  department  of  philan- 
mutea  at  Chefoo.  thropy  before  she  went  to  China,  and  fouml 
there  a  happy  sphere  of  usefulness  by  establishirt; 
a  school  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  connection  with  her  missionan 
service.  As  yet  her  work  is  confined  to  boys,  but  she  hopes  in  time 
to  open  also  a  school  for  giris.  The  difficulty  of  adjusting  scientific 
methods  to  such  a  language  as  the  Chinese  is  truly  formidable. 
Mrs.  Mills  has  put  into  use  a  phonetic  alphabet,  which  seems  to  serve 
admirably  with  her  Chinese  pupils.  An  interesting  feature  of  the  work 
is  that  it  is  supported  by  deaf-mutes  in  Christian  countries.*  It  is 
impossible  to  estimate  the  percentage  of  this  class  in  a  land  like 
China.    There  are  a  large  number,  and  there  are  also  many  more  who 

1  Christie,  "  Ten  Years  in  Manchuria,"  p.  21. 

2  Mercy  and  Truth,  September,  1897,  p.  197. 

s  The  Messenger  (Shanghai),  December,  1894,  p.  182. 

«  Woman's   Work  for  Woman,  February,  1893,  pp.  37-39 ;  Regions  Beyond, 
May,  1895,  p.  242. 


TifF.   SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


881 


are  simply  deaf.    The  late  Dr.  Mills  "  found  over  thirty  deaf-mute  boys 
from  five  to  fifteen  years  of  age  "  during  one  of  his  missionary  tours. 

The  fame  of  Dorcas  has  been  spread  abroad  through  China,  not 
only  in  the  Scripture  story,  but  by  societies  imitating  her  good  deeds. 
The  Chinese  name  of  one  of  these  benevolent  circles 
is  "  Help-the- Needy  Society,"  and  it  is  under  the  Dore«»  locietie*  tmonc 
charge  of  Mrs.  Bridie,  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  thtcwn»M. 

Canton.  It  has  introduced  the  inevitable  bazaar, 
and  is  distributing  its  garments  quite  like  one  of  its  sister  organizations 
in  Christendom.!  Still  another,  known  by  the  standard  title  of  "  Dorcas 
Society,"  is  conducted  at  Swatow  by  Miss  Mary  K.  Scott,  of  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Mission.  Then  there  are  poor  funds,  and  widows'  funds, 
and  refuges  for  homeless  beggars,  and  the  quiet  charities  of  the  churches, 
ail  representative  of  the  spirit  of  love  inspired  by  the  Master.  We  are 
not  able  to  find  many  traces  of  organized  Christian  work  for  the  insane 
in  China.  Dr.  John  G.  Kerr,  of  Canton,  has  for  many  years  been 
desirous  of  establishing  an  asylum  for  this  unfortunate  class,  and  has 
recently  been  able  to  accomplish  his  wish.^  Kindly  care  of  the  aged 
and  dependent  is  often  sadly  lacking,  but  the  influence  of  Christianity 
is  stimulating  humane  interest.  Dr.  Mac  Kay,  of  Formosa,  writes  that 
formerly  the  old  and  feeble  there  were  neglected  and  despised,  but  that 
now  they  are  cared  for,  at  least  in  Christian  communities. 

Charitable  movements  in  Japan,  apart  from  Christianity,  are  not 
lacking,  but  their  resultant  until  recently  has  been  slight,  and  even  during 
the  modern  regime  the  advance  has  been,  in  com- 
parison with  other  progressive  changes,  not  what    ch«rit.bie  movement, 
one  would  naturally  expect.     There  are,  however,     •mong  the  jspaneie. 
some  interesting  official  and  private  charities  which 
it  is  a  pleasure  to  note.     In  the  reconstruction  of  the  laws  incidental 
to  the  Restoration  there  has  been  introduced  into  the  Poor  Law  of 
Japan  a  provision  for  government  relief  by  means  of  a  reserve  fund, 
amounting  to  about  two  million  pounds,  the  interest  of  which  is  to  be 
devoted  to  the  aid  of  the  poor  and  indigent  who  may  be  the  victims  of 
famine,  earthquake,  fire,  and  other  calamities.     Mention  should  be 
made  also  of  an  institute  for  the  blind  and  dumb  at  Tokyo,  founded 
about  1875,  by  a  philanthropic  society  called  the  Rakuzenkwai,  organ- 
ized by  some  prominent  Japanese  citizens.     The  Emperor  became  a 
contributor,  and  through  his  help  a  building  was  erected,  which  was 
opened  for  the  admission  of  a  few  blind  pupils  in  1880.     Subsequently, 

•  IVork  and  fVorkers  in  the  Mission  Field,  November,  1897,  pp.  454-4J6. 
-  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  November,  1898,  p.  390. 


* ;,'  ii 


!        i 


i!  ( 


I 


!l. 


il 


I 


n 


382 


CllRISTIAX  MISSIOXS  AND  SOCIAL  PROCKESS 


in  1885,  the  direct  control  of  the  school  was  assumed  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Education,  and,  according  to  a  late  report,  there  were  forty-six 
blind  and  eighty-five  mute  pupils  in  the  institution.  Another  small 
school  at  Tokyo  and  also  one  at  Kyoto  have  been  recently  opened.* 
It  is  pcj'i.ips  too  early  to  pass  judgment  on  a  matter  of  this  kind,  yet 
the  apparent  failure  of  the  Japanese  as  a  people  to  grasp  benevolent 
ideals,  and  to  organize  schemes  of  relief  and  charity  with  the  same 
earnestness  wii.i  whii  h  they  have  adopted  other  Western  ideas,  is 
somewhat  disappointing.-  On  the  other  hand,  the  rapid  gro^vth  of 
Christian  philanthrojiy  is  creditable  and  full  of  encouragement,  and, 
what  is  still  more  remarkable,  these  evangelical  institutions  for  chari- 
table purposes  command,  in  many  instances,  the  support  of  non-Chris- 
tian Japanese  of  the  official  and  wealthy  classes.^  In  the  terrible  earth- 
(juake  of  1891,  and  in  the  destruction  caused  by  the  devastating 
seismic  wave  of  June  15,  1896,  the  native  Christians,  under  the  leader- 
ship, especially  in  the  latter  instance,  of  the  pastors  of  Morioka.  dis- 
covered a  practical  call  to  duty  to  which  they  responded  in  a  spirit  of 
generous  sacrifice.* 

In  a  statistical  census  of  the  Christian  institutions  of  Japan,  recently 
prepared  by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Pettee,  of  Okayama,  a  section,  containing 
sixty  entries,  is  devoted  to  schools  for  the  poor,  one  to  orphan  asy- 
lums, reporting  nineteen  entries,  another  to  homes  for  various  classes, 

1  The  Japan  Evangelist,  June,  1 897,  pp.  266,  267;  The  Baptist  Missionary 
Magazine,  June,  1898,  p.  217. 

^  Tlie  Rev.  William  Elliot  Griffis,  D.D.,  an  acknowledged  authority  on  Japan, 
has  coiniiienteil  upon  this  status  as  follows:  "  Though  the  nation  is  to-day  ground 
down  under  t!  e  awful  load  of  taxes  that  keeps  the  mass  of  the  people  poor  ami 
itjiior-int,  though,  no  doubt,  many  are  made  rich,  one  m  Tokyo,  Osaka,  or  KyolD 
looks  almost  in  vain  for  great  schemes  of  benevolence,  hospitals,  asylums  for  the 
insane,  for  the  blind,  and  for  diseased  and  suffering  humanity.  One  does  in<leeil 
find  a  few  hospitals  maintained  by  the  Government,  but  even  these  are  ridiculously 
few  compared  with  the  number  in  Christian  countries ;  while  for  the  special  classes, 
for  orphans,  the  blind,  the  dumb,  the  insane,  the  lying-in  mothers,  one  is  appalled 
to  find  that,  outside  of  those  under  Christian  or  foreign  auspices,  and  one  blind  and 
dumb  school  of  the  Government,  such  things  hardly  exist.  The  finest  buildings  in 
Japan  are  the  Government  offices,  the  houses  of  the  high  officials,  and  the  military 
barracks,  but  a  Girard  College  or  Cooper  Institute,  or  those  institutions  which  even 
in  colonial  America  were  hopefully  common,  are  practically  unknown  in  boasting 
Japan.  Large-mimled  philanthropists  are  as  rare  as  white  crows."—  The  Missionary 
Kexinv  of  the  World,  September,  1 897,  p.  656. 

'  The  Missionary,  September,  1897,  p.  415.  The  fact  is  stated  on  the  authority 
of  the  Kirisutohyo  Shimbun,  a  Japanese  paper. 

«  "  Nineteenth  Report  (1 896)  of  the  Council  of  Missions  Codperating  with  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  Japan,"  pp.  52-60. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


383 


mostly  ilepentlents,  giving  fourteen  entries,  and  still  another  to  hos[>i- 
tals  and  dispensaries,  represented  by  sixteen  entr.ts— all  of  these  being 
under  Protestant  Christian  auspices,  and  not  in- 
cluding a  nearly  equal  number  under  Roman  A..n.u.ofChri..i.n 
Catholic  supervision.  This  i^  surely  a  most  com-  eharitio  in  j«p«n. 
mendable  and  cheering  exhibition  of  the  charitable 
fruitage  of  Christianity  in  Japan.  A  representative  institution  for  the 
blind  is  the  Draper  Christian  Blind  School,  at  Yokohama,  with  thirty 
pupils.  This  school  was  founded  by  Mrs.  Draper,  widow  of  the  Rev. 
G.  Draper,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  who  died  in 
1889,  while  on  a  visit  to  his  son,  a  missionary  in  Japan. •  Others  are 
the  blind  school  at  Gifu  (C.  M.  S.),  with  fifteen  inmates,  and  the  school 
for  blind  men  at  Takata,  with  ten  students.*  Industrial  work  is  a 
feature  of  these  institutions.  The  Scripture  Union  for  Japan  has  now 
forty-five  blind  persons  in  its  membership,  an  interesting  fact  when 
noted  in  connection  with  the  recent  publication  of  the  Gospel  of  Luke 
in  Japanese  by  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  the  projected  issue  of 
other  books  of  the  Bible  for  the  use  of  the  Japanese  blind.  Various 
aspects  of  benevolence  are  represented  by  relief  societies,  such  as  that 
of  Mr.  Takahashi,  in  Tokyo,  and  the  work  of  Mr.  Osuga  for  feeble- 
minded children,  in  conjunction  with  his  orphanage  at  Oji.  There  is 
also  a  home  for  the  aged  and  destitute  at  Nagoya,  reporting  twenty- 
seven  inmates.  These  results  show  clearly  that  Christianity  has  not 
failed  to  quicken  the  grace  of  charity  in  the  Japanese  heart,  a  state- 
ment which  is  fully  sustained  by  the  judgment  of  resident  missionaries.^ 

>  The  Jap,-n  Evangelist,  August,  1896,  pp.  328-330. 

»  "  Annual  Report  of  the  Methodist  Missionary  Society  of  Canada,  1896-97  " 
p.  xxvii. 

'  "  Orphanages,  homes  for  ex-convicts,  prison  reform  movements,  efforts  to  give 
poor  children  education,  and  benevolence  in  cases  of  great  disaster,  are  taking  for- 
ward  strides  under  the  fostering  of  Christianity.  "-Rev.  S.W.  Hamblen  (A.  B.  M.  U.) 
Sendai,  Japan.  ' 

•'  A  society  has  been  established  in  this  city  for  relief  in  case  of  distress  by  earth- 
quake, fire,  or  flood.     The  little  Christian  community  furnishes  an  executive  officer 
and  about  one-third  of  the  membership."-Rev.  Henry  Stout,  D.D.  (Ref.  C    \  \ 
Nagasaki,  Japan.  * 

A  year  ago  last  summer,  and  also  the  previous  summer,  this  province  suffered 
terribly  from  floods.  The  Christians  organized  relief  work,  following  up  their  gifts 
of  rice  and  money  with  educational  and  evangelistic  work.  This  charity,  together 
with  the  orphan  asylum,  gave  them  a  recognized  standing,  and  has  led  to  a  great 
change  of  feeling  toward  Christianity. "-Rev.  James  H.  Pettee  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M  ) 
Okayama,  Japan. 

"  Organized  charities  are  making  wonderful  progress,  and  the  best  of  it  aU  is  that 


(   i. 


\\''-   \ 


11  i 


t  • 


384  CflKlSTlAN  MISSIONS  AS'D  SOCIAL  PKOCXESS 

Id  India  there  is  much  suffering  among  the  poor  and  dependent.     It 
is  pleasant  to  record  that  there  are  instances  of  large-hearted  benevo- 
lence among  the  wealthy  natives  o(  the  country, 
E..mpi..ofb...voun..  especially  the  Parsis.i     At  Bombay  a  dharamsaia, 
•meat  utivM  of  ladia.  or  charitable  institution,  costing  eighty  thousand 
rupees,  was  built  many  years  ago  by  the  late  Sir 
J.  Jejeebhoy,  a  philanthropic  Parsi,  who  subsequently  placed  it  under 
the  direction  of  the  District  Benevolent  Society.     One  hundred  and 
fifty  of  ii,  inmates  are  lepers,  and  live  in  separate  quarters.    The.c 
are  other  well-known  Parsi  philanthropists,  among  whom  is  Sir  D.  M. 
Petit,  Bart.,  who  for  some  time  has  been  identified  with  benevolent 
work  in  Bombay.     Among   Hindus,  there  are  Sir  M.  Nathoobhoy, 
C.S.I. ,  of  Bombay,  who  has  constructed  a  dharamsala  at  Walkeshwar; 
Rao  Bahadur  Mudaliar,  of  the  Deccan,  whose  princely  contributions 
to  famine  relief  and  to  the  support  of  famine  .rphans  deserve  grateful 
recognition:  Iswar  Chandra  Vidyasagar,  C.I.E.,  who  has  spent  large 
sums  for  the  mn'ntenance  of  widows  and  orphans ;  and  King  Nasir-ud 
Dii.  Hyder,  who  established  the  King's  Poorhouse  at  Lucknow.    These 
public  benefactors  are  examples  of  many  who  might  be  mentioned 
with  honor  in  this  connection. 

The  entrance  of  Christianity  into  India  has  stimulated  and  broad 

ened  the  spirit  of  benevolence,  and  introduced  some  beautiful  charities. 

The  welfare  of  the  blind,  of  whom  there  are  possibly 

Mi..i..  .ffort.  for  th.    half  a  million  in  British  India,  including  Burma  aiul 

blind  in  India.         Ceylon,  has  not  been  neglected.*     In  connection 

with  the  Sarah  Tucker  College  (C.  M.  S.)  at  Palam- 

cotta,  there  are  classes,  organized  by  Miss  Askwith,-the  first  of  tlie 

kind  in  the  Madras  Presidency,— for  both  blind  boys  and  giris,  ana 

also  for  deaf-mutes.     Industrial  training  is  part  of  the  education.il 

course.     The  report  of  1896  states,  regarding  the  graduates  of  the 

class  for  the  blind,  that  seven  are  already  employed  as  teachers,  having 

in  almost  every  case  they  have  their  source  in  Christianity.  This  is  victory.  "- 
Rev.  Davia  S.  Spencer  (M.  E.  M.  S.),  Nagoya,  Japan. 

>  Cf.  "Some  Noted  Indians  of  Modern  Times,"  pp.  60,  68,  87,  95,  109; 
Bailey,  "  Glimpses  at  the  Indian  Mission  Field,"  p.  104. 

i  "  According  to  the  census  of  1891,  out  of  a  population  of  some  274.000,000 
there  were  458,868  blind.  Including  Burma  and  Ceylon,  there  would  probably  be- 
about  half  a  million  who,  according  to  the  census,  are  reported  blind.  But  thu 
estimate,  large  as  it  is,  must  be  far  below  the  real  number  of  the  sightless  ..  -'o  need  to 
be  provided  for.  The  census  takes  no  note  whatever  of  the  people  whose  s.|;lit  is 
so  seriously  defective  as  to  render  them  for  educational  purposes  practically  blind, 
and  these  form  a  very  large  proportion."- TA*  ChntUan,  October  II,  1894. 


It 

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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


385 


passed  the  government  examinations  successfully.  One  of  them  has 
established  a  school  in  Tannevellei,  his  own  village,  where  he  gives 
instruction  to  ten  pupils.  An  "  Association  for  Work  among  the  Blind  " 
has  been  formed,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Madras  Missionary  Con- 
ference, and  chiefly  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Rev.  T.  P. 
Dudley.  Much  painstaking  work  had  previously  been  done  by  Mr. 
L.  Garthwaite,  formerly  Government  Inspector  of  Schools,  and  also 
by  the  Rev.  Joshua  Knowles,  of  Travancore.»  Mr.  Garthwaite  has 
arranged  an  alphabet  which  can  be  adapted  to  any  language  of  India, 
and  has  published  primers  of  instruction.  An  institution  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  blind  is  about  to  be  established  at  Bangalore.  There  is 
a  school  at  Amritsar,  under  Miss  Hewlett,  in  which  twenty-seven 
blind  pupils— all  Christians— are  under  instruction.  The  work  of  a 
Bible-woman  at  the  Amritsar  dispensary  is  suggestive  of  the  service 
which  can  be  rendered  to  Christianity  by  its  blind  converts.^  At  Poona 
the  Church  of  Scotland  Mission  has  a  special  department  in  its  or- 
phanage for  sightless  giris.  At  Calcutta  a  medical  mission  home  and 
orphanage  for  blind,  crippled,  and  destitute  children  has  just  been 
established,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Norman.  At  Luck- 
now  the  American  Methodists  have  a  school  for  the  blind,  and  the 
Canadian  Presbyterians  have  a  class  at  Ujjain.  Medical  missionaries 
are  busy  everywhere  with  their  skilful  ministrations  to  those  whose 
vision  can  be  restored  by  surgical  service.  In  some  sections  of  India 
ophthalmia  is  prevalent  and  as  many  as  three  hundred  operations  on 
the  eyes  within  a  month  are  reported  by  physicians  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  in  Kashmir.^ 

>  The  Christian^  October  II,  1894;  The  Harvest  Field,  December,  1896,  p.  471. 

8  "A  peculiarly  bright,  happy-looking  girl  of  about  eighteen,  sitting  down  at 
the  beginning  of  the  morning  in  one  of  our  Amritsar  dispensaries,  with  her  lar^e 
Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  in  Dr.  Moon's  system  of  raised  characters  for  the  blind, 
open  on  her  knees ;  she  can  see  nothing,  but  her  fingers  move  swiftly  across  the 
page,  and  she  begins  to  read  better  than  some  persons  who  have  the  use  of  their 
eyes!  As  the  morning  goes  on,  all  the  sick  who  come  for  medicine  will  listen  with 
astonishment  and  pleasure,  and  she  will  have  opportunities  of  witnessing  for  Jesus 
to  those  who  ask  her  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is  in  her.  She  was  once  herself  in 
the  darkness  of  Mohammedanism,  and  in  the  Blind  .School  found  Christ.  She  is 
now  a  rejoicing  and  consistent  Christian.  Do  you  think  th.it,  as  we  stood  and 
watched  her  delight  in  reading  the  comfortable  words  of  our  Saviour  Christ,  we 
asked  ourselves  if  to  bring  such  to  the  Lord  were  work  worth  doing?  Rather,  is 
it  not  a  service  which  angels  might  envy?  "-Barnes,  "Behind  the  Pardah," 
p.  126.     Cf.  also  Hewlett,  "  They  Shall  See  His  Face." 

'  "  Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1895,"  p.  183;  The  Church  Mis- 
sionary  InUUigencer,  August,  1898,  pp.  61 1,  612. 


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380 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Schools  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  are  also  to  be  found.     A  prominent 
one  at  Calcutta,  founded  in  1893,  is  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  J.  N. 

Banerji,  an  educated  Hindu.     This  zealous  philan- 

Rchoou  for  the  deaf  and  thropist  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  what  is  ap- 

''"'"'' BomS"'""    Parently  his  life-work.     He  visited  England  and 

America,  spending  some  time  at  the  Gallaudet  Col- 
leire  in  Washington  in  studying  the  best  systems  of  deaf-mute  instruc- 
il  )n,  and  has  recently  returned  to  Calcutta,  prepared  to  conduct  his 
work  according  to  the  most  improved  methods.*  This  school  is  not 
uii  ler  the  auspices  of  any  missionary  society,  although  the  majority  of 
the  trustees  are  Christians,  and  some  of  them  missionaries.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  Mr.  Banerji's  efforts  may  receive  some  financial  recognition 
from  the  Indian  Government.  The  need  for  institutions  of  this  kind 
in  India  is  indicated  by  his  statement  that  if  provision  were  made  in 
that  country  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  proportion  to  the  efforts  put  forth 
in  America,  it  'vould  imply  the  existence  there  of  four  hundred  and  fifty 
schools  for  that  class,  instead  of  the  two  now  existing,^  the  number  of 
deaf-mutes  to  be  cared  for  being  estimated  at  fully  two  hundred  thou- 
sand. An  institution  similar  to  that  in  Calcutta  exists  at  Bombay. 
That  missionaries  will  not  fail,  even  amid  their  multiplied  responsibili- 
ties, to  give  attention  to  the  welfare  of  this  neglected  class,  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  a  committee  has  been  apnointed  by  the  Calcutta  Mis- 
sionary Conference  to  take  up  the  subject  of  instruction  for  deaf- 
mutes.3  An  interesting  paper  on  this  theme  was  presented  to  the 
Conference,  in  February,  1897,  by  the  Rev.  K.  S.  Macdonald,  D.D., 
and  tentative  plans  were  made  for  inaugurating  special  work  for  these 
unfortunates.*  As  before  mentioned,  there  is  a  class  for  deaf-mutes 
at  the  Sarah  Tucker  College  in  Palamcotta. 

At  different  places  in  India  a  unique  ministry  has  been  estabhshed 
among  the  poor.    A  picturesque  and  at  the  same  time  impressive  exam- 

1  The  Indian  Magazine  and  Revitiv,  August,  1895,  pp.  436-438 ;  February,  1896, 
pp.  107-109;  March,  1897,  p.  165;  The  Independent  and  Nonconformist,  May  20, 
1897;  "  Report  of  the  Calcutta  Deaf-and-Dumb  School,  1894-95." 

2  The  Congregationalist,  May  14,  1896. 

Mr.  W.  S.  Monroe,  of  the  State  Normal  School,  Westfield,  Massachusetts,  in  an 
article  on  "  The  Education  of  Defective  Children,"  published  in  The  Congregation- 
alist of  August  12,  1897,  states  that  "  for  every  100,000  children  in  the  public 
schools  of  America,  there  are  559  children  in  schools  for  the  deaf,  215  in  schools 
for  the  blind,  416  in  institutions  for  mentally  deficient  children,  and  1 123  in  juvenile 
reformatories." 

»  The  Harvest  Fiell,  December,  1896,  p.  466. 

«  The  Indian  Evangelical  Review,  July,  1897,  pp.  56-65, 


c  ■ 

a:' 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


387 


pie  of  this  is  called  the  "  Beggars'  Church,"  and  was  instituted  by  Dr. 
Colin  S.  Valentine  at  Agra.     He  arranged  for  a  gathering  on  Sabbath 
mornings  of  the  poorest  of  the  poor  within  his  com- 
pound for  a  religious  service  attended  by  a  distri-  The  "BeggMi- Church" 
bution  of  alms.    This  has  resulted  in  the  formation  •«  *«'•• 

of  a  chiu"ch  with  an  attendance  sometimes  as  large 
as  eight  hundred,  of  whom  nearly  three  hundred  are  blind.  The  appear- 
ance of  this  congregation  is  so  pathetic  that  visitors  have  been  known 
to  shed  tears  on  beholding  it.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many 
of  those  who  thus  assemble  have  become  Christian  disciples,  i  A 
similar  charity,  entitled  the  "  Garden  Service,"  is  conducted  by  Miss 
Harvey,  of  the  Zenana  Bible  and  Medical  Mission,  at  Nasik.  Her  sym- 
pathies have  gone  out  also  towards  suffering  animals.  She  has  inter- 
ested herself  in  rescuing  many  of  them  from  the  cruelties  of  the  people, 
and  has  succeeded  in  estabUshing  a  hospital  for  them,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  local  committee.  It  is  supported  by  the  united  gifts  of  the 
municipality,  the  Govp-nment,  and  voluntary  contributors.  Tiirough 
the  hberality  of  Sir  D.  M.  Petit,  Bart.,  a  Parsi  gentleman,  a  permanent 
hospital  building  foi  this  purpose  is  to  be  provided,  which  is  to  bear 
his  name.  Only  those  who  have  lived  in  the  East  can  realize  the  need 
and  value  of  an  object-lesson  like  this  of  kindness  to  dumb  animals. 
Among  the  various  projects  of  the  Salvation  Army  in  India  is  a  plan 
for  the  estabhshment  of  peasant  settlements  on  waste  lands,  where  the 
extremely  poor  may  be  located,  with  the  hope  that  they  will  thus  become 
able  to  support  themselves.  The  subject  of  systematic  provision  on 
the  part  of  the  various  missions,  for  the  poverty-stricken,  is  attracting 
attention,  and  the  establishment  of  well-ordered  poorhouses  has  been 
advocated  by  a  recent  writer.^ 

In  Siam,  Burma,  and  Assam,  the  idea  of  some  practical  ministry  to 
those  overtaken  by  infinnity  or  calamity  is  beginning  to  be  a  recognized 
part  of  the  Christian  social  code.  At  Rangoon  the  "  Diamond  Jubilee 
Friend-in-Need  Society  "  has  just  been  organized,  and,  with  the  Ran- 
goon Branch  of  the  Madras  Native  Christian  Association,  is  devoted  to 
the  welfare  and  assistance  of  Indian  Christians.  "  The  Siamese,"  writes 
Miss  Mary  L.  Cort,  "  are  learning  to  help  unfortunate  sufferers  from 
fire  or  flood,  instead  of  calmly  looking  on  and  saying  that  '  they  did 
not  have  merit  enough  to  deserve  a  better  fate.'  "^ 

1  The  Christian,  November  19,  1896;  and  March  17,  1898. 

*  The  Rev.  J.  R.  Hill,  in  The  Indian  Church  Quarterly  Review,  October,  1898. 
Cf.  The  Christian  Patriot,  October  I,  1898,  p.  4. 

*  "  Christianity  and  missions  have  brought  light  and  life  to  many  poor  persons 


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CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Sight  for  blind  aya*  in 
Persia. 


In  Persia  our  missionary  physicians  have  their  skill  taxed  in 
dealing  with  the  terrible  diseases  of  the  eye.  Many  a  bUnd  person 
passes  from  the  mission  hospitals  into  the  light  of 
restored  vision.  Dr.  Cochran,  of  Urumiah,  relates 
some  of  his  experiences  in  this  line :  "  One  day 
there  came,  from  Van,  in  Turkey,  a  company  of 
men,  Turks,  Armenians,  and  Nestorians,  nine  in  all,  five  of  them 
with  sore  eyes— ten  of  the  worst  eyes  I  ever  saw  in  a  single  group. 
They  had  experienced  all  sorts  of  difficulties  by  the  way,  from  cold 
at  night  and  heat  by  day,  from  robbers,  and  from  passport  and 
customs  officers  on  the  frontier,  and  had  at  last  reached  us  after 
ten  days'  journey.  For  two  of  them  we  could  do  nothing ;  the  rest 
were  helped  more  or  less.  One,  who  was  wholly  blind,  went  home 
with  his  vision  partially  restored  by  the  aid  of  an  artificial  pupil,  and 
was  as  happy  a  man  as  one  could  wish  to  meet.  We  have  had  several 
interesting  cases  of  cataract,  interesting  because  the  patients,  being 
blind,  were  so  rejoiced  to  regain  their  sight.  One,  a  little  Moslem 
girl,  perhaps  fourteen  years  old,  had  b^en  blind  for  a  year.  I  removed 
a  cataract  from  one  eye,  and  by  the  time  she  had  the  bandages  taken 
off  and  found  her  eyesight  renewed,  it  was  the  date  of  their  great  feast. 
Her  father,  who  had  often  visited  her  and  reported  her  favorable 
progress  to  his  family,  asked  leave  to  take  her  home,  so  that  her  mother 
and  friends,  who  did  not  believe  that  her  sight  was  recovered,  could  have 
a  '  feast  of  thanksgiving  together.' "  i 

In  the  Protestant  churches  of  Asiatic  Turkey  careful  provision  is 
made  for  the  poor.  Benevolent  societies  have  been  formed,  and,  in 
some  instances,  hospitals  and  temporary  work  for  sufferers  from  earth- 
quakes and  other  disasters  have  been  organized  in  evangelical  commu- 
nities. In  times  of  war,  famine,  and  distress,  and  especially  amid  the 
sufferings  which  were  occasioned  by  the  Turkish  atrocities,  missionaries 
have  distinguished  themselves  by  benevolent  ministrations.   Thousands 

in  Assam  who  would  otherwise,  in  all  probability,  have  starved.  They  have  also 
brought  into  the  country  a  new  idea  altogether,  namely,  that  no  distinction  shoul^i 
be  made  on  account  of  nationality.  The  help  which  can  be  given  should  be  extended 
to  all  alike.  This  principle  is  taught  to  the  Christians,  who  receive  it  very  well  on 
the  whole,  and  from  them  it  will  be  imparted  to  others.  As  the  influence  of  Chris. 
tianity  extends,  this  idea  will  undoubtedly  be  adopted  by  boards  and  municipalities, 
so  that  the  very  poor  will  not  be  left  to  starve.  It  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  almost 
every  movement  for  the  good  of  the  community  is  startol  in  some  way  by  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  the  native  Christians  who  are  under  their  instruction."— Rev.  Robert 
Evans  (W.  C.  M.  M.  S.),  Mawphlang,  Shillong,  Assam. 
1  Wilson,  "  Persia:  Western  Mission,"  pp.  267,  268. 


%i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


389 


of  lives  have  been  saved,  and  many  hearts  cheered,  by  the  faithful  and 
kindly  relief  administered  by  those  who  were  made  the  almoners  of 
the  bounty  of  Christendom.     Recent  instances 
recorded  are  but  the  last  of  a  long  series  of  such  ser-  B«"»evoient  mtoiatry  to 

.   „    ,,  J        J  .      •  J     ,         ,        *•>•  •fflicted  in  Turkay 

vices,  especially  those  rendered  during  and  after  the  ^^  Egypt, 

war  of  1877-78.  A  venerable  patriarch  among 
the  American  missionaries.  Dr.  Elias  Riggs,  now  eighty-eight  years 
of  age,  has  long  interested  himself  in  work  for  the  blind.  He  has  pre- 
pared portions  of  the  Scriptures  by  the  use  of  a  few  simple  characters 
arranged  to  supply  the  needed  symbols,  and  has  published  the  Gospel 
of  St.  John  in  this  form.*  Missionary  physicians  at  such  centres  as 
Beirut  are  rendering  a  priceless  ministry  to  many  afflicted  with  the 
grievous  maladies  so  dangerous  to  the  sight  in  Syria.  In  Egypt,  where 
diseases  of  the  eye  prevail,  a  special  benefit  attaches  to  skilful  medical 
and  surgical  services.  The  British  Syrian  Mission  conducts  at  Beirut 
some  schools  for  blind  men  and  women,  and  has  also  another  at 
Tyre.  At  Jerusalem  a  class  of  blind  girls  was  formed  in  1896,  by 
Miss  Ford,  and  in  1897  a  home  and  school  for  this  dependent  class 
was  founded,  now  under  the  charge  of  Miss  M.  J.  Lovell.  A  British 
Ophthalmic  Hospital,  maintained  by  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jeru- 
salem in  England,  is  also  ministering  to  the  relief  of  multitudes  who 
flock  to  it  from  the  city  and  the  surrounding  country. 

The  treatment  of  the  insane  in  Western  Asia  has  long  been  a  dread- 
ful feature  of  social  demoralization.  To  be  sure,  they  are  generally 
regarded  as  holy,  and  for  that  reason  allowed  to 
wander  about  at  will,  although  they  are  sometimes  The  first  ••yium  for  the 
tormented  by  the  jee-  -"nd  persecutions  of  the  tnwne  in  Syru. 
baser  element  of  the  popi.  tion.  Under  Christian 
missions  the  first  really  organized  attempt  to  do  anything  for  the  insane 
in  Syria  has  been  undertaken  through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr.  The- 
ophilus  Waldmeier, formerly  of  the  Friends'  Mission  on  Mount  Lebanon. 
A  committee,  composed  largely  of  Christian  missionaries,  with  repre- 
sentatives also  of  the  foreign  and  native  communities  of  Syria,  has 
been  formed,  and  through  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Waldmeier  a  substantial 
fund  is  now  secured  for  the  establishment  of  a  home  for  the  insane  on 
Mount  Lebanon,  and  a  purchase  of  property  has  been  consummated. 
The  accounts  given  in  the  prospectus  of  this  undertaking,  of  the  shock- 
ing treatment  to  which  the  violently  insane  in  the  Levant  are  usually 
subjected,  emphasize  the  great  need  of  this  kindly  charity.2    Thus 

1  The  Missionary  Herald,  August,  1898,  p.  297. 

»  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  August,  1897,  pp.  613-615;  The  Outlook, 


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300 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Christian  missions,  even  in  such  a  comparatively  civilized  part  of  the 
world,  are  saying  the  first  word  for  this  neglected  class.  Let  us  hope 
that  this  enterprise  may  be  instrumental  in  quickening  throughout 
Western  Asia  a  new  conception  of  the  duty  of  society  to  those  bereft 
of  reason. 

We  cannot  longer  follow  these  attractive  clues.     A  single  instance 
from  the  African  Continent  must  suffice.     The  good  Khama  has  revo- 
lutionized the  whole  attitude  of  his  people  towards 
Leuons ofkiadncu in   t}jg  miserable  pariah  tribes  in  their  vicinity.     It  is 

Africa  and  the  South  ,  ,        ,  ,  ,  ■■.. 

Saai.  usual  for  the  powerful  native  communities  to  look 

upon  their  pariah  neighbors  as  wild  beasts,  who 
may  either  be  left  to  perish,  or  hunted  for  sport  and  spoils.  Khama 
has  taught  his  people  a  better  way,  and  has  persuaded  them  to  help 
these  former  outcasts  to  a  higher  life  and  to  win  them  by  kindly  treat- 
ment.i  A  resident  missionary  of  South  Africa,  the  Rev.  John  W. 
Stirling,  of  KaflFraria,  makes  an  interesting  statement  bearing  upon 
our  present  theme.  He  says :  "  Perhaps  in  nothing  is  the  benefit 
accompanying  the  Gospel  more  noticeable  than  in  the  attention  now 
given  to  the  infirm  and  the  aged.  In  former  days,  when  any  one  had 
reached  the  stage  of  not  being  able  to  help  himself  or  others,  he  was 

June  19,  1897,  p.  467;  Medical  Missions  at  Home  and  Abroad,  April,  1897, 
pp.  279-281;  The  Literary  Digest,  November  21,  1896;  The  Christian,  Novem- 
ber 5,  1896. 

1  Mr.  Selous  may  here  be  quoted:  "  A  generation  ago  all  the  Bakalahari  lived 
the  life  described  by  Dr.  Livingstone  and  others.  They  wandered  continually, 
under  a  burning  sun,  over  the  heated  sands  of  the  Kalahari,  without  any  fixed 
habitation,  and  ever  and  always  engaged  in  a  terrible  struggle  for  existence,  livini; 
on  berries  and  bulbs  and  roots,  on  snakes  and  toads  and  lizards,  with  an  occasional 
glorious  feast  on  a  fat  eland,  giraffe,  or  zebra,  caught  in  a  pitfall ;  sucking  up  water 
through  reeds,  and  spitting  it  into  the  ostrich-egg  shells  in  which  they  were  wont 
to  carry  it,  and  altogether  leading  a  life  of  bitter,  grinding  hardship  from  the  cradle 
to  the  grave.  In  fact,  they  were  utter  savages,  joyless,  soulless  animals,  believing 
nothing,  hoping  nothing,  but,  unlike  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Bothw«*ll,  fearing  much,  for 
they  were  sore  oppressed  by  their  Bechuana  masters,  and  often  became  the  prey  of 
the  lions  and  hyenas  that  roamed  the  deserts  as  well  as  they.  Now  many  of  tlie 
wild  people  hnve  been  induced  by  Khama  to  give  up  their  nomadic  life.  He  sup- 
plied them  with  seed-corn,  and,  as  may  be  seen  at  Klabala  and  other  places,  il  e 
Bakalaharis  of  the  present  day  hoe  up  large  expanses  of  ground,  and  grow  so  much 
corn  that,  except  in  seasons  of  drought,  they  know  not  the  famine  from  which  tlieir 
forefathers  were  continually  suffering.  In  addition  to  this,  Khama  and  his  head  men 
have  given  them  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats  to  tend  for  them,  from  which  they  obtain 
a  constant  supply  of  milk.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  that  Khama  has  successfully 
commenced  the  work  of  converting  a  tribe  of  miserable  nomadic  savages  into  a  happv 
pastoral  people."— Selous,  "  Travel  and  Adventure  in  South-East  Africa,"  pp.  112, 
113. 


i   * 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  391 

taken  out  of  doors  and  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  wolves  Tlie 
thought  of  the  sacreduess  of  human  life  is  gradually,  if  slowly,  perco- 
lating into  the  heathen  mind,  and  has  already  done  much  towards 
amehoratmg  the  lot  of  decrepit  parents  and  friends." 

The  old  ways  in  the  South  Seas  may  be  learned  from  the  journals 
of  John  Hunt,  an  early  missionary  to  Fiji.     "  We  have  had  some  new 
instances,"  he  writes  in  1839,  "of  the  deep  depravity  of  the  people 
They  are  literally  'without  natural  affection.'     It  is  their  common 
practice  to  bury  their  old  people  alive  in  order  to  put  them  out  of  the 
way.    The  custom  of  burning  widows  in  India  is  as  nothing  to  this 
That  IS  done  from  superstition,  but  this  from  insensibility,  and  disre- 
gard both  of  God  and  man.     The  other  day  we  heard  of  a  woman 
who  had  been  suffering  from  a  cold  and  was  unable  to  work     This 
was  considered  a  sufficient  reason  for  killing  her,  though  she  was  young 
and,  excepting  this  indisposition,  of  a  vigorous  constitution     The 
queen,  to  whom  she  belonged,  thought  it  was  better  to  strangle  her 
and  throw  her  into  the  river.     A  Tonga  man  who  has  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, succeeded  with  the  aid  of  a  woman  of  the  queen's  household 
who  IS  also  a  Christian,  in  rescuing  her  from  this  fate,  and  she  was  taken 
to  the  man's  own  house,  where  she  now  is.     We  hope  she  will  soon 
recover  and  praise  the  Lord  for  His  goodness.    Another  woman,  of  some 
rank,  has  just  been  strangled  and  buried.     This  seems  to  be  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  rich  and  the  poor:  the  poor  are  generally  buried 
ahve,  and  the  rich  are  strangled.     A  woman  who  was  put  into  the 
grave  some  time  since  desired  to  sit  upright,  but  the  wretch  who  was 
burying  her  did  not  find  it  convenient  to  himself  that  she  should  be 
in  that  position,  and  he  therefore  put  his  foot  on  the  poor  creature's 
breast,  and  thrust  her  down."  1 

The  above  incidents  serve  the  double  purpose  of  illustrating  the 
cruelues  of  heathen  practices,  and  also  the  new  resolves  of  mercy  and 
rescue  which  Christianity  at  even  that  eariy  date  had  put  into  the  native 
neart.  Expand  this  symbolic  object-lesson  a  thousand  times,  and  it 
would  not  prove  an  exaggeration  of  the  growth  of  charitable  instincts 
and  practices  now  observable  in  the  native  Christian  communities  of 
the  Pacific. 


ev.r  f  r^'T  ^**"'*^  ^^"^'-"^^^  ^"^'^^  ^"Id  is  rarely,  if 
k2  T"^  *^'  ''°'^^'  °'  ^"'"'"^-  A  P°"'°"  °^  the  earth's  popu- 
lation IS  always  liable  to  be  in  the  grasp  of  this  giant  woe.     Now  it 

«  Work  and  Worktrs  in  the  Mission  Field,  February,  1896,  p.  62, 


i>rU 


1 


■Hi: 


392  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

is  an  African  tribe,  anon  it  is  an  Asiatic  people,  or  the  natives  of  some 

island  of  the  sea.    The  recent  harrowing  scenes  in  India  have  reminded 

us  of  this.     The  service  which  Christian  missions 

Ad.H«htfuieh.pur     in  many  lands  have  been  able  to  render  in  such 

inth.anoaitof        ^.^^^  ^^  j^j^^^y  ^nd  despair  is  a  delightful  chap- 

phii«.thropy.         ^^^  .^  ^^^  ^^^^j^  ^j  philanthropy.     It  has  at- 

tracted  comparatively  little  attention  in  the  busy  world,  but  we  may 
believe  it  has  been  written  on  high  in  the  unfading  record  of  those 
things  which  have  been  done  unto  Christ.  Among  His  own  mem- 
orable  words  is  a  distinct  reference  to  compassionate  ministry  of  this 
kind,  when  He  says :  "  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  Me  meat. 

The  section  in  Vol.  I.  (PP-  "9-238)  deahng  with  poverty  and 
famine  gives  some  account  of  the  prevalence  of  this  gnevous  calamity 
in  the  worid.     The  most  helpless  regions  of  the 
earth  in  times  of  great  distress  are  those  where  no 
'"•  'l^^.  °         civilized  authority  exists,  and  where  all  systematic 
modern  facilities  for  coping  with  national  disaster 
are  lack-ng.     The  truth  of  this  statement  becomes  more  manifest  when 
we  reflect  that  the  vast  resources  of  such  an  experienced  and  highly 
organized  government  as  that  of  British  India  are  taxed  to  the  utmost 
and  are  barely  able  to  cope  efficiently  with  the  enormous  burdens  of 
widespread  famine  among  a  dense  population,  which  even  in  ordinary 
times  is  wretchedly  poor.     The  years  1896  and  1897  will  be  memorable 
in  India  for  the  combined  miseries  of  famine  and  plague,  and  still  more 
memorable  for  the  energetic  and  largely  successful  efforts  of  the  Gov- 
ernment  and  of  missionary  agencies  to  mitigate  the  sufferings  of  the 
people.    The  region  of  famine  was  in  the  central  and  northern  provinces 
of  the  country,  and  a  population  of  fully  seventy-two  millions  was  more 
or  less  affected  by  it.     Of  this  number  about  thirty-seven  millions  were 
in  the  section  of  veritable  "famine."  and  the  remainder  in  the  region 
of  "  scarcity."  ^ 

1  A  valuable  and  authoritative  survey  of  the  progress  of  .he  British  Go^ent 
in  its  efforts  to  cope  with  Indian  famine,  and  the  immense  "^7" V";^*"; ^^  ^^'^ 
ness  of  its  provisions,  within  the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  is  ^°--'\^^ ^^.^'fjl 
Sir  Roper  Le.hbridge.  K.  C.  I.  E..  entitled  "  India  in  the  S.xt..h  V  J-J-         "  '^ 
published  in  Th.  Impnial and  Asiatic  Quarterly  Rn:r.    uly.  .897-     He  c^all.  pc^ 
attention  to  the  services,  at  the  time  of  the  Bengal  famme  m  .873--4. 
Georee  Smith,  then  editor  of  T/,^  friend  of  India,  and  now  Secretary  of  .he  Fre 
C  :       of  Ltland  .M.ssions.     Dr.  Smith  was  at  that  time  the  Ca.cuua  crresp 
dent  of  The  Times,  and  his  ardent  advocacy  of  the  duty  of  a  n.oro  v.goro  .  po. 
in  dealing  with  conditiu:.  of  famine  had  a  marked  influence  in  aukUn.n, .  c  Hn  . 
conscience  and  in  stinmla.ing  official  action.     The  energies  of  Sir  Richard  lemple, 


H- 


A  Grou|)  <>(  Kamini-  Vii  tims.  Jahalpur. 
An  Kmaciattd  Iri...  M^.tlicr  an.i  (hi  Id. 

A  I'aminc-strUkin  (ir"ii|iat  I'anajar. 

Snap  Shois    ai     ihi    Kamini    df    iS,;-,    in    Im,ia. 

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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MlSSiOXS  393 

A  vivid  conception  of  the  beneficent  work  accomplished  by  mis- 
«ionariet  during  the  recent  famine  may  be  obtained  from  their  own 
descriptions  in  personal  communications  and  pub- 
lished accounts.     An  article   by  the  Rev.  IP      ,w  . 

„     ,.  .        .         ,   ,  .     ^  •  J"   '•       Thahumana  minis. 

Haythornthwaite,  of  Agra,  m  77/,?  Church  Mission-  «ry  of  miaaionariaa. 
ary  Intelligencer,  March,  1898,  is  of  special  value. 
In  many  instances  this  service  has  included  the  rescue  of  the  helpless 
and  dying- those  who,  either  through  desertion  or  weakness,  were  unable 
to  save  themselves.  Thousands  of  children  were  in  this  condition,  many 
of  whom,  havmg  lost  their  parents  by  death,  would  have  been  an  easy 
prey  to  the  scourge.  In  some  places  the  missionaries  have  organized 
relief  work  resembling  that  instituted  by  the  Government,  in  which 
employment  of  a  useful  kind,  and  frequently  for  the  public  benefit,  has 
been  given  to  the  needy  multitudes. 

An  example  or  two  from  hundreds  which  might  be  quoted  must 
suffice.     The  Rev.  J.  O.  Denning,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission. 
Narsmghpur,  wrote  to  the  author,  under  date  of  October  25    1897- 
"  We  have  been  in  the  midst  of  the  famine  for  two  years,     i'hanks  to 
the  good  Lord,  it  is  now  abating.     The  scenes  that  we  have  witnessed 
have  been  awful.     I  have  seen  no  pictrre  that  equals  the  original.     I 
have  looked  upon  men,  women,  and  children  lying  under  trees  and  by 
the  roadsides,  dying  of  hunger.     We  have  helped  to  save  life  and 
relieve  pam.     My  wife  and  I  have  rescued  nearly  seven  hundred  chil- 
dren and  put  them  into  mission  schools.     Almost  all  of  them  were 
orphans  having  been  made  00  by  the  famine.     Wo  shall  have  four 
hundred  orphan  boys  on  our  hands  when  this  emergency  is  over.     We 
shall  do  our  best  to  educate  them,  some  more,  some  less,  according  to 
he.r  ab.hty,  and  shall  teach  each  one  a  trade,  so  that  he  can  do  some- 
thmg  for  himself.     We  shall  endeavor  to  lead  all  to  r.  personal  knowl- 
edge of  Chnst.    Wc  teach  carpentry  and  shoemaking,  and  have  started 
orange  and  banana  orchards,  also  a  poultry-yard  nnd  a  farm,  end 

Lord  J:orthbrook.  Lord  Lytton,  and  others,  established  rn  effective  sche.ne  of 
government  relief  which  has  been  of  the  higheot  servic.  and  proved  c'cec         in. 

vh  to  nl  Th?  T  ""■'"""'  °'  '"=  """"^  ^y^'"'-  "^"'"^  •'" '-8  -  -- 't 
i  n^"  who  wm  T  ^""  ''  "  '"  °P"*°"  "'"' ''''  °"'  "«^  "^^  of  starvation 
LIh  nf"''  P"^"""*^"^  ^id  in  time  of  distress  and  will  abide  by  the 

reenlations  controlling  its  distribufon.  ^ 


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3,»  c7/A'/S77.4JV  Af/SS/OXS  AKD  SOC/AL  PROGRESS 

shall  Houn  have  a  vegetable  garden  We  hope,  too,  in  the  near  future 
to  teach  printing  and  telegraphy.  Our  aim  will  be  to  make  the  boy» 
useful.  We  now  have  a  splendid  plant  for  the  orphanage  and  school, 
but  we  need  money  for  their  support  until  they  are  able  to  do  f<.r 
themselves.  A  boy  can  be  fed  antl  clothed  during  the  whole  year 
for  fifteen  dollars.  I  have  about  three  hundred  famine  sufferers  on 
relief  work.  All  told,  about  seven  hundred  persons  get  their  daily 
bread  from  funds  sent  me  for  famine  relief.  On  the  J6th  of  Sep- 
tem1)er  I  baptized  ten  of  the  relief  workers  and  sixty-eight  of  the 

boys." 

The  Rev.  Rockwell  Clancy,  of  the  same  mission,  writes  under 
date  of  February  17,  1897,  from  Allahabad:  "We  have  received  in 
all  two  hundred  and  fifty  children,  and  finding  it  impossible  to  keep  all 
who  came  to  us,  we  decided  to  establish  in  our  compound  a  depot  for 
the  distribution  of  famine  children.  From  this  depot  we  have  sent  ten 
girls  to  a  Presbyterian  mission,  seventeen  to  our  orphanage  at  Bareilly, 
twenty  to  our  school  at  Cawnpore,  fifty-nine  to  the  mission  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  at  Cawnpore,  and  thirty-five 
to  Ajmere.  Our  workers  in  the  famine-stricken  villages  are  busy  col- 
lecting orphan  children.  Yesterday  two  native  workers  brought  in 
fifty  "light  of  them,  and  have  returned  to  their  villages  for  more.  I 
received  a  letter  from  a  friend  this  morning  offering  us  a  lot  of  boys. 
A  few  days  ago  more  than  fifty  girls  from  Jabalpur  passed  through 
this  station  to  our  school  at  Aligarh;  and  on  Tuesday  thirty-eight  girls 
were  sent  on  to  our  school  at  Bareilly,  in  addition  to  the  seventeen 
above  named.  If  we  had  the  accommodation  we  could  take  in  hun- 
dreds of  children."  ' 

The  Rev.  A.  Campbell,  of  the  Santal  Mission  of  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland,  has  conducted  for  months  a  system  of  rehef  employment 
involving  several  kinds  of  work,  for  both  men  and  women,  atul  gra- 
tuitous distribution  of  food  to  the  aged  and  helpless  and  to  famushnl 
infants  and  children,  which  has  been  a  means  of  deliverance  to  a  tota 
of  over  five  thousand  souls.  Aside  from  that,  some  three  thou>.ind 
others  have  received  relief  more  or  less  regularly.  Mr.  Camphe 
writes:  "We  have  been  privileged  during  the  last  seven  and  a  half 
months  to  minister,  at  the  lowest  computation,  to  the  wants  of  eight 
thousand  people,  and  this  has  been  accomplished  by  the  mission  staff, 
slightly  strengthened,  along  with  their  regular  duties."  » 

I    The  Gospil  in  all  Lands,  May,  1897,  p.  244.  ^  ^^^ 

»  Thi  Free  Church  0/  Seotland  Monlhiy,  August,  1897,  p.  186,  and  N-v?!!i-.tr. 

1897,  p.  269. 


THE  SOCIAL   RESLI.TS  OF  MlSSlOSs 


n05 


culled  from  the  reonls  of  almost 

Ihe 


Sptriiual  harvttli  tn 

timet  of  phyiicai 

(•min«. 


Examples  like  these  mi;r* 
every  mishionary  society  hiu  k  in  the  regions  atrt-itcJ.' 

I'undita  Ramahai's*  n()l)le  scrvit  eg  in  the  rescue  of 
girU  and  widows  from  the  famine  district!  are  well 
known.*     Dr.  Jessica  Carleton,  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Mission,  Amiiaia,  is  reported  as  hav- 
ing two  hundred  needy  women  on  her  roll,  mostly  aged  widows.     The 
Rev.  E.  D.  Price  writes  of  "eleven  Church  Missiocary  Society  relief 
centres,  and,  including  orjihans  and  other  children,  twenty  five  hundred 
human  beings  on  daily  relief."  >    The  Rev.  J.  E.  Clough,  1).  I).,  aided  by 
the  pastors  and  evangelists  of  the  American  Ba[.tist  Mission  among  the 
Tclugus,  has  had  the  oversight  of  from  two  to  five  thousand  natives  em- 
ployed at  the  quarries  on  the  Ongole  hills  in  labor  for  the  support  of 
themselves  and  their  families.*     A  special  feature  of  these  efforts  has 
been  the  gathering  of  hundreils  of  orphans  into  mission  schools  and  or- 
phanages.    This  rescue  work  for  children  is  illustrated  by  a  photograph 
facing  p.  249,  representing  a  group  of  famine  waifs  under  the  care  of 
Mrs.  Bruere,  of  the  American  Methodist  Mission  at    Poona.     "  The 
famine,"  she  writes,  "  is  too  terrible  to  describe.     It  is  enough  for  us  to 
know  that  parents  sell  their  children  to  secure  the  price  of  food,  or  push 
them  into  wells,  putting  them  to  death  in  order  that  they  may  not  see 
them  suffer."    In  January,  1 897,  Mrs.  IJruere  had  one  hundred  and  three 
children,  both  boys  and  giris,  under  her  charge.     The  testimony  of  one 
who  has  studied  the  subject,  not  from  the  standpoint  of  a  missionary,  but 
rather  as  a  student  of  social  conditions  in  India,  may  be  found  in  an 
article  by  Mr.  Julian  Hawthorne,  entitled  "  The  Real  India,"  in  The 
Cosmo/o/i/an  o{  Seinemher,  1897. 

Another  aspect  of  this  matter  which  deserves  special  notice  is  the 
readiness  with  which  native  Christians  in  parts  of  India  not  affected  by 
the  famine,  and  also  in  other  mission  fields,  have 
contributed  to  the  relief  of  the  sufferers.     "  A  little     '-'•>•'•'  contribution! 
native  Presbyterian  church  in  Korea,  of  about  one    '"""Ihe'r  UndV""' 
hundred   members,   forwarded   sixty  dollars   to- 
wards the  Indian  famine  fund."     Still  another  Korean  congregation 
collected  fifty-six  dollars,  and  the  Presbyterian  churches  in  Seoul  gave 

'  The  "  Report  of  th    TTurku  and  Central  India  Hill  Mission,  1897,"  devoted 
specially  to  an  account  of  l....,ine  relief,  is  an  excellent  examule. 

*  TAe  Church  Miisionan  Intellit;encer,  December,  1897,  p.  914. 
«  Tht  Baptist  Missionary  Afasazinc,  September,  1898,  p.  541. 


I 


I', 


306 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


1  ! 


i!-- 


over  sixty  dollars  to  the  same  fund.  It  is  a  significant  comment  up(j(i 
this  fact  that  "  not  a  cent  was  contributed  to  the  famine  fund  by  non 
Christian  Koreans."  The  gift  of  ^844  from  the  Fiji  Islands  to  the 
Mansion  House  Indian  Famine  Fund  has  already  been  mentioned 
(p.  42).  A  contribution  amounting  to  more  than  one  thousand  rupees 
was  sent  by  the  native  members  of  the  English  Baptist  congregations 
of  China  for  their  suffering  fellow-Christians  in  India.  Another  gift 
for  the  same  purpose,  amounting  to  forty  dollars,  was  sent  by  the 
Christians  of  Kusaie,  one  of  the  Caroline  Islands,  and  still  another  was 
forwarded,  for  transmission,  to  the  British  Consul  at  Kobe,  by  a  little 
group  of  believers  on  Okinawa,  one  of  the  Loochoo  Islands.^ 

We  have  confined  our  attention  almost  entirely  to  the  events  of 
1896-97,  but  the  services  of  missionaries  in  previous  famines  have 
been  equally  beneficent,  energetic,  and  fruitful  of 
Whmt  miaiionariei      good.     The  accounts  of  the  work  of  Dr.  Clough 
'''7nd°rn  frm"«°"    and  many  others  in  the  famine  of  1877,2  and  in 
those  of  1873-74  and  1866,  yields  the  same  testi- 
mony of  faithful  and  heroic  labors.     In  the  year  1837,  when  the 
present  Queen  of  Great  Britain  came  to  the  throne,  a  terrible  famine 
raged  in   Hindustan.     It  was  said  that  "British  residents  at  Agra 
and  Cawnpore  could  not  take  their  evening  drive  because  the  corpses 
—  too  numerous  for  burial— lay  by  the  roadside."     In  1897,  after  a 
period  of  s'xty  years,  a  marked  change  in  the  method  and  efficiency  of 
famine  relief  was  observable,  when  between  three  and  four  millions  were 
successfully  aided   by  government   and   missionary  agencies.     The 
funds  for  this  immense  undertaking  were  supplied  mosdy  by  the  British 
Government,  but  the  gifts  of  missionary  societies,  charitable  organiza- 
tions, special  philanthropic  committees,  and  donations  secured  through 
the  personal  efforts  of  missionaries,  have  amounted  to  a  goodly  and 
most  effective  contribution. 

These  benevolent  ministrations  have  effected  very  much  more  tlian 
the  mitigation  of  physical  suffering  and  the  saving  of  life.  The  spiri- 
tual results  attained  in  past  visitations,  and  no  doubt  to  be  duly  recorded 
in  connection  with  more  recent  experiences,  have  been  a  vast  gain  to 
Christianity  in  India.  After  the  great  famine  of  1876-78  Dr.  Clough 
baptized  9606  converts  within  six  months.     It  was  the  beginning  of 

1  The  Indian  JriVMWJ,  November  5,  1 897;  The  Missionary  Herald  of  tht  Eng- 
lish Baptist  Missionary  Society,  January,  1898,  p.  21 ;  The  Missionary  Herald 
of  the  American  Board,  August,  1898,  p.  293;  From  Month  to  Month,  one  oi  iU 
serial  ktters  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  dated  July  18,  1898,  p.  3. 

•  The  Missionary  Record,  April,  1895,  pp.  106-109. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  397 

an  advance  which  is  now  represented  by  in  churches,  51,878  com- 
municants, 647  schools,  and  11,930  pupils.*     Out  of  these  ministra- 
tions have  sprung  flourishing  orphanages,  asylums, 
homes  for  widows  and  the  aged,  dispensaries,  Ve«r»  or  ipirituai  plenty 
hospitals,  churches,  and  even  thriving  missions.      'piy^ica' dearth!' 
Hundreds  of  the  present  preachers,  evangelists, 
and  teachers  in  India,  when  children,  were  the  inmates  of  orphanages, 
where  they  were  nourished,  trained,  and  saved  from  destruction.^ 

In  passing  on  to  China  we  cannot  linger  to  speak  in  any  detail  of 
the  philanthropic  ser\'ices  rendered,  in  1 893,  by  the  Presbyterian  mission- 
aries in  Laos.  Through  the  bounty  of  American 
benevolence,  nearly  ten  thousand  dollars  were  "Atruiy  heavenly  phe- 
disbursed  by  them  in  faithful  and  compassionate  "Taud  iL  cwr.!"""" 
ministries  to  that  suffering  people.  In  China  the 
work  of  missionaries  in  periods  of  famine  is  a  noble  and  memorable 
record.  That  vast  country  has  been  the  scene  of  some  of  the  most 
frightful  calamities  in  modem  history.  The  visitation  of  1877-79, 
wliich  centred  in  and  around  the  Province  of  Shansi,  has  been  perhaps 
rightly  designated  as  the  greatest  famine  known  in  history.  The  vic- 
tims are  estimated  by  the  Rev.  Timothy  Richard,  who  himself  partici- 
pated in  the  relief  distribution,  as  amounting  to  at  least  ten  millions. 
Many  missionaries  of  various  denominations  shared  in  this  work.^ 
Two  of  them  who  labored  devotedly  have  recently  died,  the  Rev.  John 
L.  Nevius,  D.D.,of  the  Presbyterian,  and  the  Rev.  David  Hill,  of  the 
Wesleyan  Mission.  The  lives  of  many  thousands  were  saved  at  that 
time.  A  tablet  has  been  erected  by  the  natives  in  North  China  to 
commemorate  the  services  of  Christian  missionaries  in  those  awful  days. 
Upon  it  is  inscribed  that  in  the  crisis  of  the  greatest  need  there  occurred 
"  a  truly  heavenly  phenomenon,  an  awe-in.-'piring  event,  for  certain 
English  preachers  of  doctrine,— namely,  David  Hill,  Timothy  Richard, 
and  others,— moved  by  the  calamities  of  the  Chinese  populace,  came 
with  expression  of  the  wealth  and  fine  feeling  of  their  country,  and  began 
by  distributing  several  thousands  of  dollars,  visiting  the  famine-stricken 
villages,  making  minute  and  personal  inquiries,  and  presenting  either 
one  or  two  or  three  thousand  cash  to  each  person.  This  they  continued 
to  do  until,  at  the  beginning  of  1879,  the  sum  total  of  their  charity 

I  "Annual  Report  of  the  Americjin  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  1898"  (see 
statistical  tables  opposite  p.  212). 

'  Cf.  article  by  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Robinson,  Calcutta,  entitled  "How  will  the 
Famine  bear  on  Missions?  "  in  Rtgions  Beyond,  June,  1897,  pp.  247-250. 

'  "  Centenary  Volume  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,"  pp.  121-123. 


...   11 


.19S 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


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must  have  amounted  to  more  than  fifty  thousand  ounces  of  silver." 
The  inscription,  it  is  declared,  was  set  up  to  "  everlastingly  hand  down 
their  names  to  a  thousand  ages."  In  recognition  of  their  services,  these 
missionaries  were  subsequently  offered  the  rank  of  mandarins  by  the 
Emperor,  an  honor  which  they  did  not  think  it  wise  to  accept.*  The 
overshadowing  woe  of  such  a  sore  famine  seems  to  dwarf  all  other  sea- 
sons of  privation,  but  a  condition  of  dearth  is  almost  chronic  in  China, 
and  in  some  sections  of  the  countr)'  missionaries  are  engaged  almost 
every  year  in  efforts  to  relieve  want.  The  famine  of  1888-89  was  also  a 
time  of  widely  extended  suffering,  affecting  five  provinces.*  The  ser- 
vices of  the  late  Mrs.  C.  W.  Mateer,  who  at  that  time  supervised  the 
distribution  of  aid  to  an  enrollment  of  over  fifty  thousand  persons, 
were  especially  noteworthy.' 

The  jtory  of  relief  work  among  the  Armenians  during  the  recent 

massacres  is  fresh  in  our  minds.     The  service  was  shared  by  various 

agencies,  not  least  among  them  the  American  mis- 

The  record  of  misiionary  gionaries  Scattered  throughout  the  country,  at  almost 

benefactions  in  Armenia,  ^  ,  ,     .  j, 

Persia,  and  Arabia,  every  promment  centre  of  population.  Numer- 
ous accounts  of  the  emergencies  which  arose,  and 
the  duties  they  were  called  upon  to  discharge,  have  been  published 
in  the  secular  and  missionary  periodicals  of  1896  and  1897.*  In  pre- 
vious visitations  in  Asia  Minor  and  in  Syria,  especially  during  i860,  at 
the  time  of  the  massacres  on  Mount  Lebanon,  when  so  mary  thousands 

1    Tie  Review  of  Missions,  July,  1897.  pp-  2»  3- 

*  "  During  the  last  thirty  years,  over  and  over  again,  missionaries  have  acted  «s 
ihe  distributers  of  money  or  grain  contributed  by  foreigners,  and  also,  to  some  ex- 
tent, by  wealthy  natives,  for  relief  purposes.  Indeed,  there  is  hardly  a  year  in 
which  some  work  of  this  kind  is  not  demanded.  The  most  fearful  famine  which 
even  China  has  ever  known,  perhaps  unparalleled  in  any  other  country  or  age,  was 
that  of  1877-79,  whose  centre  was  the  Province  of  Shansi.  It  is  supposed  that  in 
Ciiihli  a  quarter  of  the  people  perished,  and  in  Shansi  even  a  larger  number.  The 
efTorts  to  relieve  the  sufferers  cost  the  lives  of  four  or  five  missionaries,  one  of  them 
a  beloved  colleague  of  my  own.  Again,  in  1888-89,  five  provinces  were  affected, 
and  very  I.-rge  sums  raised  and  distributed.  It  is  only  just  to  add  that  on  every 
such  occasion  it  has  been  found  that  the  native  merchants  and  gentry  have  been  ready 
to  come  nobly  to  the  help  of  their  suffering  countrymen."— Rev.  Jonathan  Lees 
(L.  M.  S.),  Tientsin,  North  China. 

»   The  Chinese  Recorder,  May,  1898,  p.  220. 

«  The  Review  of  Rniews  (American  edition),  April,  1896,  pp.  444-449;  Th 
L\risti,m,  September  24,  1896;  Harris,  "Letters  from  Armenia,"  pp.  193-198; 
/.//.■  and  Li^ht  for  Woman,  November,  1895,  p.  506,  March,  1896,  pp.  105-109, 
October,  1897,  p.  443,  and  December,  1897,  pp.  542-544;  The  Missionary  Herald, 
November,  1895,  p.  466,  March,  1896,  p.  106,  April,  1896,  p.  155,  and  March, 
•897.  PP-  99-»o»- 


i.l 


ln,Ii.,„  urphans  wh.,  uerc  rc-«.ued  in  the  lair.iiif  „l  ,s,- 
aV.  M.Si 

Armenian  orphan,  re^ued  from  famine  and  massacre.     Now  .n  Talas  b,«rdinK^ho„I 

I  A.  n.  (  ,  F.  M  ) 

Thf:    AniR    Rkwards  ok   a   Famine    Rfscie. 


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1,. 


THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS  399 

were  homeless  and  hungry,  memorable  service  was  rendered  by  resident 
missionaries."  In  Persia  their  names  are  forever  associated  with  bene- 
factions in  times  of  distress.  Dr.  Cochran  and  the  late  Dr.  Shedd, 
among  others,  have  rendered  invaluable  aid.  The  drought  and  famine 
of  1879-80  enlisted  the  ministrations  of  nearly  all  the  missionary  circle. 
Refugees  sent  over  the  Persian  border  from  Turkey  by  the  recent 
atrocities  have  been  cared  for  as  far  as  practicable  by  members  of  the 
mission  in  Western  Persia.  The  Keith-Falconer  Medical  Mission  ir 
Southern  Arabia  has  done  good  service  in  relieving  those  enfeebled  by 
famine.2 

In  the  primitive  environment  of  savagery,  famine  is  not  met  by  or- 
ganized assistance.     The  people  migrate,  or  wander,  from  place  to 
place,  hopeless  and  helpless,  in  the  vain  search 
for  supplies.     Under  these  circumstances,  as  often     -     , 

,  •      Kc  ■  ...  Service! to itwvim 

happens  m  Afnca,  missionaries  render  about  the  Africane. 

only  aid  which  can  be  expected.  The  Rev.  F. 
Coillard  makes  some  interesting  statements  which  reveal  his  influence  in 
persuading  native  chiefs  to  pay  attention  to  the  needs  of  their  people 
at  such  times.  The  Rev.  J.  D.  Hepburn,  in  an  account  of  his  mis- 
sionary life  in  Khama's  country,  tells  of  the  bewilderment  of  the  native 
church  when  he  first  undertook  to  induce  them  to  attempt  systematic 
efforts  to  prevent  starvation.'     In  the  famine  of  1895  in  Usagara,  ter- 

>  "  The  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  in  Asia  Minor  have  been  the  mea.is 
of  relieving  distress  and  saving  hundreds,  nay  thousands,  of  lives  in  numerous 
famines  which  have  afflicted  Asiatic  and  European  Turkey.  For  example,  in 
'873-74  I  was  myself  a  member  of  a  committee  which  raised  and  distributed  some 
thirty  thousand  pounds  sterling  in  the  form  of  food  and  clothing,  and  seed  for  sow- 
ing,  to  sufferers  from  a  famine  in  the  great  Province  of  Cesarea.  Rev.  W.  A.  Fames- 
worth,  D.D.,  and  his  associates  and  native  fellow-laborers  were  the  chief  agents  for 
the  distribution  of  relief,  and  they  devoted  themselves  to  the  work  without  any 
remuneration,  performing  the  service  with  much  sacrifice  and  most  commendable 
fidelity,  regardless  of  differences  of  race  or  religion.  Indeed,  if  I  mistake  not,  the 
larger  number  of  recipients  of  aid  were  Mohammedan  Turks.  Again,  in  1876-77, 
our  missionaries  in  Bulgaria  were  invited  by  another  Constantinople  committee  to 
convey  assistance  to  the  distressed  Bulgarians.  Also,  in  recent  years,  signal  service 
to  humanity  has  been  rendered  by  the  mission  staff  in  raising  funds  and  bringing 
relief  to  famine  sufferers  in  the  Provinces  of  Adana,  Mardin,  and  Erzroom."- 
Rev.  J.  K.  Greene,  D.D.,  Constantinople. 

2  Dr.  Young,  of  Sheikh-Othman,  writes :  "  Last  month  there  were  2029  attend- 
ances at  the  dispensary,  and  I  do  not  think  I  am  exaggerating  in  saying  that  forty 
per  cent,  of  these  cases  were  caused  by  the  famine,  and  that  the  best  medicine  one 
could  give  them  was  vegetable  food  or  milk  dietary."-r^,  />«  Chunk  of  Scotland 
Monthly,  November,  1898,  p.  269. 

»  "  Twenty  Years  in  Khama's  Country,"  p.  127. 


400 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


rible  scenes  were  witnessed  by  resident  missionaries  while  they  devoted 
themselves  with  unsparing  zeal  to  the  relief  of  the  sufferers.* 

Surely  further  details  are  not  needed  to  make  manifest  the  fact  that 
a  humane  and  faithful  service  has  been  done  by  Christian  workers  in 
many  fields  to  stay  the  ravages  of  famine,  and  to  rescue,  in  Christ's 
name,  those  who  were  "  ready  to  perish." 


:  K    \ 


jl* 


1  It 


1 


»  I 


lo.  Introducing  Modern  Medical  Science.— If  we  search  for 
the  crowning  benefaction  which  missions  have  brought  to  the  na- 
tions, we  will  find  none,  other  than  the  Gospel  itself,  which  surpasses 
in  value  the  establishment  of  modern  medical  and  surgical  practice 
among  ignorant,  deluded,  and  suffering  peoples.  The  truth  of  this 
statement  derives  emphasis  from  the  fact  that  medical  ministry  is  not 
only  a  physical  benefit,  but  also  an  evangelistic  agency  of  great  power. 
Pain  has  a  message  to  the  soul  as  well  as  an  admonition  to  the  body, 
and  the  medical  missionary  seeks  to  impress  its  spiritual  lesson  at  the 
same  time  that  he  mitigates  its  physical  pangs.  The  patient  is  in  a 
receptive  and  expectant  mood,  and  medical  science  serving  in  love, 
and  instructing  in  the  name  of  the  Master,  arrests  the  attention  and 
carries  conviction,  as  if  it  were  in  truth  what  it  has  been  called,  "  the 
modem  substitute  for  miracles." 

The  immense  scope  and  suggestiveness  of  the  theme  are  almost 

bewildering.     As  we  reflect  upon  it,  the  mind  wanders  over  dreary 

centuries  of  misery,  during  which  mankind  has 

The  heroic  aigntncane*  been  toriured  by  superstitious  ignorance  and  cruel 

of  medical  Mrvic*  in  ,  _       .  ,  .     ,.  .... 

foreign  fleida.  quackery.  It  pictures  the  prejudices  which  it  was 
necessary  to  overcome,  the  suspicions  which  had 
to  be  allayed,  the  responsibilities  which  could  not  be  avoided,  and  the 
risks  which  had  to  be  taken  by  courageous  missionary  pioneers.'-  it 
thinks  of  the  professional  nerve  and  fortitude  still  required,  the  careful 
instructions  to  be  given,  the  many  inconveniences  to  be  faced,  the  gra\  e 
dangers  to  be  guarded  against,  the  repulsive  persons  to  be  handled,  tlie 
frightful  cases  to  be  treated,— often  alone,  with  no  skilled  assistants,— 
and  the  heavy  disappointments  which  sometimes  have  to  be  borne.  It 
contemplates  the  struggle,  in  many  cases  prolonged,  which  medical 


1  Thi  Church  Mittionary  Intelligencer,  April,  1895,  pp.  275-277;  Central 
Africa,  Joly,  1895,  pp.  107-II0;  August,  1895,  pp.  124-129. 

*  The  Missionary,  January,  1898,  p.  19;  WamanU  Work  for  Woman,  Novem- 
ber, 1897,  pp.  301-303. 


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i»r.  I'htlip  1'.  »  ouslaiul.  ami  Ins  Hospital  Assisiaiiis. 
Hiiriis  Mtmiirial  lliis;ii;al. 

HospiTAI      AM>     MlDUAl,     Si   \KK,     C'hmUHHWH',     C'hINA. 
lE.  P.  f.  M.. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS  4oi 

missionaries  have  pa8se<!  through  in  securing  suitable  facilities  for  their 
growing  work »  and  the  patient  fidchty  wliich  has  been  needed  in  order 
to  establish,  in  the  face  of  jealous  opposition  and  malicious  detraction, 
the  superior  merits  of  their  scientific  methods  as  compared  with  the  old 
style  of  practice.     It  notes  with  admiration  the  quiet  vindication  of 
professional  honor  and  rectitude  which  has  been  achieved  in  spite  of 
viole-it  and  unjust  accusations,  the  composure  with  which  ingratitude, 
based  often  upon  ignorance,  has  been  overlooked,  and  the  forbearance 
which  has  been  exercised  in  dealing  with  unreasonable  and  childish 
exactions.     Then  comes  the  vision  of  achievements,  vast  and  benefi- 
cent, which  it  is  impossible  to  record  in  human  language,  although 
they  have  been  written  upon  the  hearts  of  grateful  peoples  in  many 
lands.     In  missionary  literature  much  space  is  now  devoted  to  medical 
serx'ice,  and  some  references  to  recent  sources  of  information  upon 
this  broad  theme  are  here  inserted.' 


The  experience  of  Dr.  Cousland  (E.  P.  C.  M.)  in  establishing  the  Bu.n,' 
.Memon.1  Hospital  at  Chaochowfu,  China,  well  illustrates  this  aspect  of  medical 
missionary  service.     See  Th,  Monthly  Mtsstnger,   vlarch.  1897,  pp.  68.  69. 

>  Cf.  Lowe.  "Medical  Missions:  Their  Place  and  Power";  also  "  Primer  of 
Medical  Missions  ";  Laurie.  "  Missions  and  Science  "  (Ely  Volume),  pp.  406-416- 

Report  of  the  London  Missionary  Confer,  nee,  1888."  vol.  ii..  pp.  io\-\y^- 
Wherry,  "  Missions  at  Home  and  Abroad."  pp.  335-348;  "The  Medical  Arm  of 
the  Missionary  Service,"  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M  •  "  The  Stu 
dent  Missionary  Enterprise  "  (Report  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Convention,  Detroit 
1894).  pp.  204-219;  "The  Student  Missionary  Appeal"  (Report  of  the  Studeni 
Volunteer  Convention.  Cleveland.  1898),  pp.  483-508:  Mackenzie.  "Christianity 
and  the  Progress  of  Man."  pp.  102-104:  Graves.  "Forty  Years  in  China" 
pp.  220-253  i  foster,  "  Christian  Progress  in  China."  pp.  162-195  :  Tracy  "  Talks 
on  the  Veranda."  pp.  222-237 ;  Houghton.  ' '  Women  of  i  ■  Orient,"  pp.  I61-492  ■ 
Bryson       John  Kenneth   Mackenzie.   Medical  Missionary  to  China";    Maxwell' 

W.  Burns  Thomson:    Reminiscences  of  Medical  Missionary  Work";   Christie' 

Kccord,   MM  Mus.ons  at  Ifcu  and  AhroaJ     Mercy  and  Truth:  and  Quarterly 

CZV^  f  t"'"'^'  ""'""  "''""'""''  -^  '''>■•■  •^""-'  R^P-"  of  th«  Edin^ 
n  tfona^Mt  ,  M  "°"'"''  ^c'"'^'  '^'  ''""^"'  ^"^^"'""y  Association,  the  In.er- 
BenevS     ,1  "'°""''  ^'^^''''  '"''  ""'  '"'''""-"al  Medical  Missionary  and 

Srtp  «n?°"rfT^^'-''''''''°"^'"''^''  '*^5.  pp.  403-406;  November. 
Tb,Z^^W  I  f'"""""^'  ^«'-'  "/  "■■■  nWld,  September.  ,895. 
nn  S:^«'  ,^/P''"'^''  '«97,  pp.  695-697:   The  M.ss.onary  Herald,  July.  ,897 

««'^M«</.  March.  1897.  pp.  260-263;  The  Indian  Evangelical  R.Hra;  October, 
^ir  r""*'  V:'''''"'^'"y'  ^'"■"•'er.  ,898,  pp.  549-55,;   neRevir^cf 


iill' 


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1 


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til  ii  111 
■If- 

i 

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to: 


CIIHISTIAS  AI/SS/OXS  AS'D  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


The  Hubject  cannot  be  thoroughly  studied  without  noting  the  fart 

that  far  more  attention  has  lieen  given  to  the  appointment  of  fully 

trained  medical  agents  by  American  and  British 

M(dieai  ■(•neit*  p«pu-  societies  than  by  their  sister  missionary  oruaniza- 

Ur  with  Amtrlcan  and  i      /-.        •  <  r.  i 

British  •ocuttM.  tions  on  the  Comment  of  Europe.  Ihis  no  doubt 
has  been  the  result  of  deliberate  choice  on  both 
sides.  As  the  case  now  stands,  there  are  at  present  338  American,  388 
British,  and  27  Canadian  medical  missionanes  in  the  various  fields,  as 
compared  with  30,  the  total  number  for  all  the  societies  of  Continental 
Europe,  and  7  for  Australasia.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that  it  has 
been  customary  in  several  of  the  Continental  societies  to  have  many  uf 
their  outgoing  missionaries  receive  a  practical  training  in  medicine, 
which,  without  securing  to  them  the  regular  diploma,  enables  them  to 
prescribe  the  simpler  remedies,  and  to  give  useful  directions  in  cases  of 
ordinary  illness.  In  some  individual  instances  this  foundation  of  medi- 
cal knowledge  has  proved  the  basis  of  growing  skill  and  efficiency, 
so  that  valuable  services  have  been  rendered  by  non-professional 
practitioners. 

A  similar  disparity  also  exists  in  the  employment  of  women  as 
missionary  physicians.  Included  in  these  totals,  there  are  137  Ameri- 
can, 73  British,  and  9  Canadian  women  holding  medical  diplomas, 
who  are  at  present  serving  in  the  field,  as  compared  with  one  repre- 
sentative fri.  1  the  Continental  societies.  *  The  author  is  informed, 
however,  that  several  young  women  are  now  taking  a  medical  course, 
with  the  expectation  of  receiving  appointment  from  societies  on  tiie 
European  Continent.  The  admirable  services,  moreover,  rendered  by 
the  skilled  nurses  sent  out  from  some  of  the  European  societies,  espe- 
cially by  the  Kaiserswerth  Deaconesses,  should  be  carefully  noted  here 
as  contributing  much  to  the  efficiency  of  medical  and  surgical  practice 
in  the  hospitals.  British  and  American  societies  as  well  have  furnished 
their  quota  to  the  nursing  staff.  There  are  many  Florence  Night- 
ingales and  Sister  Doras  in  foreign  mission  hospitals,  whose  services 
are  rendered  in  a  spirit  of  cheerful  devotion  to  a  round  of  duty  which 
nothing  but  love  for  the  Master  could  transfigure  with  the  joy  and 
t  liarm  of  privilege.  "  Ye  did  it  unto  Me  "  can  be  truly  said  of  all  such 
loving  ministry.  For  our  present  purpose,  however,  we  count  as 
medical  missionaries  only  those  who  have  received  the  regular  di- 
ploma, and  at  the  pre.sent  time  (1899)  we  find  that  the  total  number  in 
the  foreign  field  is  680,  of  whom  470  are  men  and  210  are  women. 

1  Mrs.   Morten  Andersen,  M.D.,  Thabor,  Shevaroy  Hills,  South  India,  who 
is  connected  with  the  Dauish  Mib&iooary  Society. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  403 

Aa  this  iummation  is  intended  to  represent  only  proft  ssedly  mis- 
sionary agencies,  the  physicians  in  connection  with  the  C"i-  ,  ,»  of 
Duflerin't  Fund  in  India  and  Burma  (often  designated  the  I.ady 
Ouflerin  Association)  are  not  included.  The  philanthropic  scrviic  of 
that  useful  organization  is  worthy  of  all  honor,  hut  as  it  ( .iifcsscdly 
does  not  seek  to  evangelize,  the  author  has  not  consi.lered  himself  at 
liberty  to  introduce  it  under  the  caption  of  missionary  statist i(s. 
He  has  not  thr  .^,/  it  justif.ahle,  either,  to  include  native  nu-dii  a!  em- 
ployees in  fr.L  ,  ,«'ou  nelds.  unless  they  have  received  foreign  dijilomas, 
and  have  \>  mi  ^li  x\  i  < 
among  it  '■  iP<?ti  mi.  iii'^r,  ». 
and  th'.""  i.  vc  je'i  rei:konc  1  ii 
^t^^e;  w!..  '■!  .\t  r 
in'c  <  1  ■. .  .(.J  -,     r»*d. 


not  to  C' 
they  .•:  ■ " 


»ot 


by  a  missionary  society,  and  cnrolli d 

Tn  a  few  instances  this  is  the  case, 

\e  list.     He  has  thought  it  best  also 

-■ceived  a  full  medical  training,  and 

il  missionarie.s,  although  their  services 

are  i  ■  ^r,?\.     .|i,t  i  ■.  }\osj."a'o  3. id  in  connection  with  surgical  cases. 

It  h^r  CO'  !•  fn  'git  ir  the  .xamination  of  reports  that  the  Board 
of  Foreigt.  Mibsiur.s  of  n  I'reshyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America  (V>  .;,  ;t»clu(lin^  its  Women's  Auxiliaries,  has  a  total  of 
Hj  medical  mis,  ..  4,ics  on  its  roll,  of  whom  50  are  men  and  ^ 
women— the  largest  number  of  any  single  society  or  board  in  the 
world.  The  Church  Missionary  Society,  with  a  total  of  55  (49  men 
and  6  women),  has  the  most  numerous  medical  force  of  any  British 
agency.  If,  moreover,  we  add  the  ten  women  physicians  of  the  Church 
of  England  Zenana  Missionary  Society,  the  total  becomes  65,  with  16 
instead  of  6  women.  The  American  Presbyterians,  above  mentioned, 
also  lead  all  others  in  the  number  (33)  of  medical  women  now  in  the 
foreign  service,  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (U.  S.  A.)  fol- 
lows with  29  on  its  roll.  The  foreign  missionary  field  having  the 
greatest  number  of  medical  missionaries  is  China,  with  243,  of  whom 
166  are  men  and  77  are  women.  The  next  in  rank  is  India,  with  168, 
of  whom  83  are  men  and  85  are  wom.  If  those  in  Burma  (13)  and 
in  Ceylon  (3)  were  added  the  total  wc     i  be  184. 

The  rapid  progress  of  medical  missions  has  been  astonishing.     The 
statistics  just  given  for  India  indicate  this  when  compared  with  a  state- 
ment made  by  Dr.  C.  S.  Valentine,  at  the  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Missionary  R.p.d  growth  of  m.di. 
Society,  in  1897.     He  remarked  that  "  thirty-nine  eaimiMion*. 

years  ago  there  were  only  about  seven  medical  mis- 
sionaries in  all  India."     The  Church  Missionary  Society  reported,  in 
1897,  that  more  than  one  tenth  of  the  whole  number  of  missionaries 
sent  out  that  year  for  the  first  time  were  qualified  doctors.     The 


\\ 


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•  s 


IF 


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! 

I 


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I 


'i 

If 

I       i 


if 


404 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


total  of  physicians  entered  on  its  roll,  March  i,  1899,  is  stated  to  be 
fifty-five.i  The  Report  of  the  Zenana,  Bible,  and  Medical  Mission 
for  the  year  ending  December  31,  1895,  gives  a  statistical  statement  of 
its  medical  work,  with  the  following  striking  results:  In  1885  the 
number  of  individual  patients  treated  by  its  missionaries  was  2222; 
in  1895  it  was  21,092.  In  1885,  also,  the  total  of  treatments  in  dis- 
pensaries was  6000 ;  in  1895  it  was  66,582.2  At  the  Student  Volunteer 
Convention  held  in  Cleveland  in  1898,  Mr.  Douglas  M.  Thornton,  a 
delegate  from  Great  Britain,  stated  that  among  British  students  those 
preparing  for  medical  service  had  increased  greatly  in  number,  so 
that,  in  fact,  the  majority  of  the  Student  Volunteer  body  were  now 
studying  medicine.'  The  Church  Missionary  Society,  with  its  charac- 
teristic alertness,  has  instituted  a  special  Prayer  Union  in  connection 
with  its  Medical  Missionary  Auxiliary,  to  be  called  "The  Order  of 
the  Red  Cross."  Its  object  is  to  quicken  prayer,  enlist  service, 
and  arouse  interest  in  this  expanding  department  of  mission  en- 
terprise.* 

Traces  of  a  desire  to  consecrate  medical  science  to  missionary  pur- 
poses are  evident  in  the  early  movements  of  modern  missions.     An 
English  official.  General  Christopher  Codrington, 
Early  movementi  on    Governor  of  the   Leeward   Islands,  in  his  will, 

behalf  of  medical  '  ' 

miasiona.  dated   February  22,   1703,  bequeathed  valuable 

plantations  in  the  Island  of  Barbados  to  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  with  the 
stipulation  that  the  property  be  kept  intact,  and  that  an  institution  be 
maintained  there  in  which  the  students  "  shall  be  obliged  to  study  and 
practise  Phisick  and  Chirurgery  as  well  as  Divinity,  that  by  the  appa- 
rent usefulne.ss  of  the  former  to  all  mankind  they  may  both  eiulcar 
themselves  to  the  people,  and  have  the  better  opportunities  of  doing 
good  to  men's  souls  whilst  they  are  taking  care  of  their  bodies.'"' 
Owing  to  difficulties  occasioned  by  litigation,  it  was  not  until  1745 
that  a  building  was  opened  for  use.  The  Codrington  College,  Bar- 
bados, stands  to-day  as  a  monument  of  the  broad  views  and  generous 
liberality  of  a  distinguished  layman  who  saw  clearly  the  usefulness  of 


i 


»«' 


!     i 


1  Mercy  and  Truth,  January,  i8r,o,  p.  aj. 

*  Annual  Report,  issued  in  1896,  p.  18. 

*  "  The  Student  Missionary  Appeal,"  p.  61. 

*  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  January,  1899,  pp.  69,  70;  Menynul 
Truth,  January,  1899,  p.  5. 

»  Pascoc,  "  Classified  Digest  of  the  Records  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagaiioii 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  1701-1892,"  p.  197. 


Viit..ria  Hiispital,  I 


'ainasii 


K    M.  M.  S. 


Nl«-    H 


OSCIlAls     IN     (_' 


Hl\  \     AM>     SVRI 


!  i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


406 


physical  healing  as  a  missionary  agency.  The  early  Danish  missions 
to  India  also  sent  out  some  medical  men  in  1730  and  1732.^  The 
Moravians,  as  well,  were  represented  by  two  physicians  sent  to  Persia 
in  1747. 

Since,  however,  these  early  efforts  of  the  Danes  and  Moravians  in 
the  eighteenth  century  did  not  result  in  the  permanent  establishment  of 
a  medical  service,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  it  is 
hardly  more  than  an  ordinary  lifetime  since  the  a  ron-c«ii  of  pioneers 
majority  of  medical  missionary  pioneers  entered  '"  ■"■"y  '>«i<i«- 
the  fields.  Dr.  Asa  Dodge  went  to  Palestine; 
Drs.  Van  Dyck  and  De  Forest  to  Syria ;  Drs.  Azariah  Smith,  Lobdell, 
Pratt,  Jewett,  Nutting,  and  West  to  Asia  Minor ;  Dr.  Grant  to  Persia ;  Dr. 
Parker  ( 1 834),  and  soon  after  Drs.  Lockhart,  Hobson,  Macgowan,  Mc- 
Cartee,  Happer,  and  Kerr,  to  China ;  Drs.  Thomas  and  Scudder  to  India ; 
Dr.  Hepburn  to  Japan ;  and  Drs.  Vanderkemp  and  Livingstone  to  Africa. 
The  pioneers  among  women  physicians  were  Dr.  Clara  A.  Swain,  who 
went  to  India  in  1869,  and  Dr.  Lucinda  L.  Combs,  who  entered  China  in 
1873,  both  of  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  first 
with  a  regular  diploma  to  go  from  Englrnd  (in  1880  to  India),  was 
Ur.  Fanny  J.  Butler  (C.  E.  Z.  M.  S.).  The  present  medical  staff  in  the 
foreign  field  is  almost  entirely  a  growth  of  the  last  half-century,  and 
especially  of  the  last  two  decades.  Dr.  Davidson  (L.  M.  S.),  on  January 
14,  1864,  wrote:  "To-day  I  began  building  the  hospital,  the  first  in  the 
Island  of  Madagascar.  It  shall  stand  at  Analakely  as  a  testimony  to 
our  humanity,  our  science,  and  our  Christianity."  2  Again,  on  May  9, 
1865,  Dr.  Elmslie  (C.  M.  S.)  wrote:  "To-day  is  memorable  in  the 
history  of  the  Kashmir  Medical  Mission,  from  the  fact  that  I  opened 
my  dispensary  this  morning."  He  writes  again  on  the  last  day  of  the 
same  month:  "Opened  my  small  hospital  to-day.  It  accommodates 
from  four  to  five  patients."  '  At  the  present  time  that  little  extem- 
porized hospital  started  on  Dr.  Elmslie's  veranda  is  a  well-equipped 
and  extensive  plant,  where,  according  to  a  recent  annual  report,  there 
were  38,573  treatments  and  over  500  major  operations  during  the 
year.  From  still  another  distant  field,  Ambrym,  in  the  New  Hebrides, 
come  similar  tidings.  Dr.  Lamb,  of  the  New  Hebrides  Mission,  writes 
in  the  autumn  of  1897:  "Much  interest  centres  in  the  experiment— 
the  first  made  in  this  part  of  the  world— of  founding  a  hospital  on  a 

'  Sherring,  "The  History  of  Protestant  Missions  in  India,"  p.  14. 
>  Mtxwell,  "  W,  Bums  Thomson :  Reminiscences  of  Medical  Missiontry  Work," 
p.  159. 

»  Mtrcy  and  TrutA,  August,  1897,  ;>.  175. 


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406  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

cannibal  island,  and  utilizing  it  as  an  engine  for  breaking  down  savagery 
by  the  power  of  Christian  love."  »  It  requires  a  vivid  imagination  to 
realize  what  these  philanthropic  efforts  mean  to  the  people  among 
whom  such  institutions  are  established. 

The  usefulness  of  the  medical  arm  of  the  missionary  service  is  in- 
disputable.    It  breaks  down  opposition,  dissipates  prejudice,  and  wins 
its  way  to  the  hearts  and  homes  of  the  high  and 
The  value  of  medical    the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor.     It  receives  tlic 
mi..ion.ry  work.      highest  official  recognition,  and  thus  facilitates  tlie 
employment  of  all  other  agencies.^     The  foreign 
doctor  is  3. persona  grata  even  in  palaces  and  halls  of  state.     Mission- 
ary physicians  render  help  by  their  advice,  and  often  by  their  personal 
services,  in  the  establishment  of  sanitary  measures  in  hitherto  neglected 
communities.     Extensive  excerpts  might  be  given,  from  sources  worthy 
of  confidence,  vindicating  the  exceptional  value  of  this  department  of 
missions,  but  it  must  suffice  to  indicate  a  few  in  a  foot-note.3 

Another  feature  of  great  interest  in  connection  with  this  subject  is 

the  provision  which  has  been  made  in  many  fields  to  train  medical 

students  from  the  native  races,  who  will  represent 

.cho:uTmTd".'„:'„    ^™°"e  "^^'^  °^"  P^°P'«  tl^^  ^^•^"tifi'^  skill  and 
misaion  fieidi.         approved  methods  which  have  been  introduced 

through  missionary  agencies.     In  some  instances 

schools  of  medicine,  with  a  competent  faculty  and  fine  equipment,  have 

been  established.     The  one  connected  with  the  Syrian  Protestant  Col- 


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1  Edinburgh  Medical  Missionary  Society  Quarterly  Paper,  May,  1898,  p.  276. 

2  "  I  ilo  not  claim  that  Western  medicine  established  Christianity  in  Japan,  l.ut 
that  Christianity,  in  introducing  medicine,  brought  into  the  country  a  power  which, 
under  God's  blessing,  has  been  one  of  the  most  softening  influences  upon  the 
Japanese  mind,  and  has,  so  to  speak,  been  everywhere  a  forerunner  of  the  divine 
message."-\V.  N.  Whitney,  M.D.,  formerly  of  the  United  States  Legation,  hut 
now  of  .^kasaka  Hospital,  Tokyo. 

"  Owing  to  the  medical  skill  of  Dr.  Mackenzie  and  Dr.  Leonora  Howard  (mm- 
Mrs.  King),  the  celebrated  Premier,  Li  Hung  Chang,  and  his  wife.  Lady  Li,  have 
for  years  been  strong  supporters  of  Western  medicine,  and  now,  ii.  addition  to  the 
hospitals  erected  by  them,  both  for  men  and  for  women,  a  special  training-school 
for  medical  students  has  been  established,  at  the  expense  of  the  Government,  for 
training  physicians  and  surgeons  for  the  army  and  navy."— Rev.  Gilbert  Reiil, 
Peking,  China. 

3  Mmy  and  Truth,  June,  1897.  p.  138;  September,  1897,  p.  197;  November, 
1897,  p.  249;  The  Missionary  Revinu  of  the  World,  September,  1897,  pp.  693-697, 
708 ;  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  November,  1895,  p.  862  ;  The  Chronul,, 
November,  1895,  p.  303;  ll'ork  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  February,  1897, 
p.  79 i  Macgowan,  "  Pictures  of  Sout^    o  China,"  p.  J03. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS  407 

lege  at  Beirut,  and  similar  facilities,  such  as  those  found  at  Agra 
Neyoor,  Lodiana,  BareiUy,  and  Kalimpong,  in  India,  the  medical  in- 
struction at  Moukden,  Foochow,  Soochow,  Canton,  Fatshan,  Hong 
Kong,  and  Chungking,  in  China,  and  also  the  training-classes  of  from 
half  a  dozen  to  a  dozen  pupils  at  a  number  of  the  hospitals  in  various 
fields,  are  examples  sufficiently  illustrative  of  this  important  phase  of 
med.cal  eflFort.i     The  Tientsin  Medical  College,  founded  by  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  has  passed  under  Chinese  control,  but  continues 
to  give  the  modem  training  required  by  Western  science,  some  of 
the  instructors  having  been  pupils  of  Dr.  Mackenzie.2     In  certain  of 
the  institutions  mentioned  women  are  taught,  and  special  classes  for 
them  are  conducted  in  many  of  the  hospitals.     Chang  Chih-tung 
a  promment  viceroy  in   China,   was  reported,  in    1897,  as  seeking 
the  services  of  Drs.  Meigii  Shie  and  Ida  Kahn,  with  a  view  to  their 
acceptance  of  positions  in  the  medical  department  of  a  school  for 
women  which  it  is  the  desire  of  the  authorities  to  found  in  Shangliai 
and  which  is  said  to  be  the  forerunner  of  a  university  for  women  to  be 
established  in  the  future.'     The  medical  education  of  Indian  women 
has  assumed  new  importance  under  the  auspices  of  the  Lady  Dufferin 
Association,  which,  in  1898,  reported  two  hundred  and  forty  female 
students  under  its  charge  in  medical  schools  and  colleges  in  India 
The  Campbell  Medical  School  in  Calcutta  has  a  class  for  native  girls 
in  whose  behalf  the  Lady  Elliott  Hostel  has  been  built  by  the  same 
Association.     A  similar  provision  has  been  added  at  the  Calcutta  Medi- 
cal  College,  and  in  a  few  other  places  in  India.     The  North   India 
School  of  Medicine  for  Christian  Women,  at  Lodiana,  has  been  recently 
organized,  and  the  medical  departments  of  some  of  the  universities  are 
open  to  women  students.     These  facts  are  indicative  of  revolutionary 
changes  m  the  social  status  and  prospects  of  woman  in  India,  which 
are  due  largely  to  the  introduction  of  medical  science  among  mission- 
ary agencies.* 

.    !/*!"'"''""  "  ^^'•''"'  School,  in  China,"  by.hc  Rev.  George  A.  Stuart.  M.D.. 
in  Tht^^  Chtnae  Recorder,  October,  1896,  pp.  494-501. 

"  Report  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  1894,"  p.  63. 
'  Woman's  Missionary  Friend,  December,  1897,  p.  170. 

JJ^'^f'VC  T",f"  ^'"'"  ^^-  ^'-  ^■^'  °'  B''"E'""^'-.  South  India,  calls  the  author's 
attention  to  the  following  statement  of  a  distinguished  official : 

'Sir  Charles  U.  Aitchison,  one  of  the  Lieutenant-Governors  of  the  Puniah 
wrote  ,„  TAe  Baptist  Missionary  Herald,  May.  ,887:  '  It  «as  at  the  suggestion  ol 
A  missionaries  that  I  have  this  year  introduced  a  systcn,  of  government  graiUs-m- 
m Ll  r*"  f .  f  P«="^«"-«-  It  -  to  the  example  set  by  missionary  Lvlies  in 
"".sion  hospitals,  «,d  in  house-to-house  visitation,  that  tl>e  present  widespread 


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408 


CHRISTIAN  MISSWXS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGKESS 


The  formal  establishment  of  medical  training,  notable  as  it  is,  does 
not  represent  the  educational  impetus  to  be  traced  to  medical  missions. 
Independently  of  organized  facilities  for  instnu 
A  revolution  in  nativ*   ti"n>  missionary  physicians  have  in  their  private 
practie*.  capacity  as  practitioners  exerted  a  manifest  influ- 

ence over  native  students  and  physicians,  who 
have  derived  from  them  valuable  knowledge  and  new  methods  of 
practice,  to  their  own  advantage  and  the  benefit  of  their  patients.  Of 
Dr.  J.  C.  Berry,  of  Japan,  it  is  said  that  he  gave  much  attention  to 
instructing  native  doctors  how  to  proceed  in  the  treatment  of  disease 
in  accordance  with  the  best  medical  knowledge.  At  one  time  he  was 
teaching  a  band  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  native  physicians. 
The  superiority  of  Western  methods  was  immediately  appreciated  !y 
the  Japanese,  and  the  Government  soon  decided  to  send  a  number  of 
medical  students  to  Europe  to  qualify  themselves,  and  then  return  to 
practise  in  their  native  land.  Several  of  those  who  enjoyed  tlie.se 
advantages  are  now  well-known  professors  in  medical  institutions  in 
Japan.'     The  stimulus  of  these  new  ideas  reaches  also  the  old  praiti- 

demand  for  medical  aid  and  medical  training  for  the  women  of  India  is  mainly  due. 
Apart  from  the  itrictly  Christian  aspect  of  the  question,  I  should, /n>/«  a  fuuh 
administrativt point  o/viiw,  deplore  the  drying  up  of  Christian  liberality  to  misbions 
as  a  most  lamentaMe  check  to  social  and  moral  progress,  and  a  grievous  injury  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  people.'  " 

Bishop  Thoburn  writes  on  this  subject  as  follows:  "What  this  means  to  the 
young  women  and  girls  of  India  I  can  hardly  make  you  understand.  I  have  rnvM-lf 
seen  twenty  young  ladies,  all  daughters  of  village  converts,  in  attendance  at  a  nmli- 
cal  college.  These  girls  had  spent  their  childhood  in  extreme  poverty.  Tlmr 
fathers  had  been  accustomed  to  earn  about  two  dollars  a  month,  and  to  occupy  .i 
very  low  social  position  in  the  village  community.  But  one  of  the  girls  on  gradua- 
tion stepped  at  once  into  a  positinn  worth  twenty-five  dollars  a  month,  an  iiii  imt- 
which  in  the  eyes  of  the  simple  villagers,  no  doubt,  seemed  princely.  A  new  cancr 
has  thus  been  opened  to  the  womanhood  of  India,  while  relief  from  pain  and  ^uk- 
ness  in  a  hundred  forms  has  l)een  secured  for  all  coming  generations  to  uncountnl 
millions  of  Indian  women.  All  this  is  to-day,  under  God,  owing  to  niissi.mary 
ladies,  and  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  testify  that  more  young  women  are  offering  ihtir 
services  for  medical  work  abroad  than  ever  before.  The  door  is  still  wide  open  lo 
Christian  workers  of  this  class,  and  the  great  movement  has  probably  only  beyun." 
—Thoburn,  "  The  Christless  Nations,"  pp.  107,  108. 

'  Page,  "Japan:  Its  People  and  Missions,"  p.  107. 

"  In  the  principal  cities  of  Asia  Minor  the  very  best  and  most  reliable  phy^iclan5 
are  generally  the  pupils  of  the  missionary  physician  and  celebrated  surgeon  Henry  S. 
N\est,  M.D.,  who  labored  for  many  years  seeking  to  heal  the  iKxlies  and  souU  "f 
men  in  Sivas,  the  capital  of  this  province,  and  with  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to  U' 
associated  during  the  last  seven  years  of  his  life."  — Rev.  Edward  Rijit- 
(A.  11.  C.  F.  M.),  Marsovan,  Turkey. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOS'S  409 

tioners,  who  often  adopt  the  better  methods,  and  discard  many  of 
the  irrational  expedients  ^hich  characterized  their  forn.er  practice 
Thus  an  entire  transformation  is  gradually  being  wrought  in  nie»lical 
science  throughout  the  ,  ountry,'  "  Medical  work."  writes  the  Rev 
W.  P  Chalfant,  of  Ichowfu,  Chma.  "aside  from  its  benevolent  and 
evangelistic  aspects,  is  disseminating  among  the  intelligent  classes 
more  correct  idea.^  of  anatomy  and  physiology,  which  must  sooner 
or  later  revolutionize  native  practice." 

Dr.  George  W.  Holmes,  a  Presbyterian  missionary  at  Hamadan. 
Persia,  writes  of  this  aspect  of  the  case:  "  Medical  mission  work  is 
making  its  influence  feh  very  decidedly,  not  alone  in  the  case  of  the 
eight  young  men  taught,  or  under  instruction,  but  also  in  the  higher 
professional  and  ethical  standards  already  apparent  in  the  ranks  of  the 
native  physicians  with  whom  we  come  in  contact.     Much  is  hoped  for 
in  this  direction."     The  author  is  indebted  to  Dr.  James  Sommerville 
a  rnissionary  of  the  Scotch  United  Presbyterian  Church,  residing  in 
Jodhpore,  India,  for  the  following  significant  statement    "  I  was  -rati 
fied  lately  by  receiving  a  request  from  one  of  the  nobles  of  this  State 
for  the  semces  of  a  Christian  native  ,]oct„r  to  yive  medical  aid  to  his 
people.     The  physician  was  to  have  tiie  fullest  permission  (a  stipula- 
tion made  by  myself)  to  preach  Christianity,  as  he  should  have  oppor- 
tunity     This  preference  for  the  services  of  a  Christian,  to  be  selected 
by  and  employed  under  the  supervision  of  a  Christian  missionary,  and 
at  the  charge  of  a  man  still  profe.ssing  Hinduism,  and  of  the  nrou.l 
conservative  Rajput  race,  con.strained  by  his  very  position  to  main- 

con.Vw  r  ''^  T  "u''  """'""'"•'"  '»  J^T""  "e^-^  physicians.  .,nd  in  thi.  capacity 
contnbated  much  to  the  introduction  of  nu-cUrn  n,c,1i,  al  s.iencc.      Dr    licplmrr's 
-vices  .s  .  scholar.  .  lexicographer,  and  a  ,r..,nsIator  can  never  he  overra.  ,i      „ 
or  many  ye„,  h.s  principal  duty  «a.s  the  practice  of  his  n.cdical  profession    a    1  ^ 

cT,S"on''''^r""  "'*'''"•  ""•"  '"«■'  ="'"  '""■•  •""■-'"  ">-•-."" 
ccpt.onof  foreign,  rational  incdicine  from  ,he  In  nets  «hich   Dr.  Hepburn-,  skill 

brough.  ,0  their  suffering  bodies.     I,r.  I..  P..  Sin^nons  wen.  out  ,0   Zn        a 

.c  ical  missionary,  but  afterwards  devoted  bin.sHf  entirely  to  the  praci.-/:       s  l. 

osZ     "d   ""  t  '"■"""^"'  "'  '■"•'°"^""''  -^  ""  s!,p..Hn,en,.on.  'of  a 

X;  '"''"'"'"''  7^:  '':-fi"='l  "''^  --'O-  •>>•  promoting  the  use  of  foreign 
.    ial  V  o  ,K  r-  °'  ;''r^"'"'"-"  ''"-''•  ^^  -  ^^'^  manner  contributed  ma 

P    7Tx    n'    .  ""'l^".^^°-^''«=  -"""'^  «^f  ^Ves,ern  .ci.nce."lnavid  .Mur 
'■•WK  ;■  r  '^"'"  '"  ""  J^'f"""'^  ^""i^'"  "f  K'lucation. 

Wh-.V"^"'.  "*"'"•"  "*■■■""  "^-   ^^^'"■'^'   "^'^  Simmons.   Hepburn    Berrv 

^  Anicle  on      America  in  .he  Far  East."  in   T,.  Outlook,  December  3..   .898, 


410  CHRISTIAN  MISSIOXS  AXD  SOCIAL  PKOGKESS 


H  ■*■ 


tain  both  racial  and  religious  traditions,  is  very  unusual.  Taken  in 
connection  with  the  farts  that  siirh  a  choice  was  made  deliberately, 
according  to  the  wishes  of  tli.  late  bearer  of  the  title  as  expressed  in 
his  will,  and  that  he  had  desi^'-ued  a  sum  of  money  to  endow  the 
appointment,  it  is  an  incident  w  lich  bears  testimony  in  a  most  signal 
manner  to  the  impression  which  our  Christian  morality  and  life  have 
made  upon  the  Hindu  mind." 

In  some  instances,  as,  for  example  ii  India,  and  to  a  less  degree  in 
China,  the  Oovernment  has  recognized  the  duty  of  introducing  facilities 
for  medical  training,  but  it  is  not  an  assumption  to  say  that  the  first 
inspiration  to  this  movement  was  attributable  in  large  measure  to 
missionary  example  and  counsel.  Training-schools  for  nurses  have 
been  founded  in  some  fields  as  supplemental  to  a  higher  medical 
course.  A  fine  example  of  this  is  the  Doshisha  Nurses*  Training- 
school,  at  Kyoto,  Japan. 

Mention   should   also  be   made   of   the   preparation   of  medical 

literature,  including  a  few  scientific  periodicals,  such  as  TTie  China 

Midual  Missionary   Journal,   the    organ  of  the 

Modern  medical  utera-  Medical    Missionary   Association   of  that   coun- 

tur«  introduced  by 
miiiionarici.  try,  and  the  Chinese  Medical  Journal,  edited  by 

Wan  Tun-mo,  resident  surgeon  of  the  Alice  Me- 
morial Hospital,  Hong  Kong,  and  Medical  Missions  in  India,  edited  by 
Dr.  Husband  of  Ajmere.  The  services  of  Dr.  Hobson,  Dr.  Mackenzie, 
and  Dr.  Kerr  in  China,  of  Dr.  Van  Dyck  and  Dr.  Post  in  Syria,  and 
of  many  others,  have  been  notable  in  this  respect.  Tracts  dealing  with 
tiie  subject  of  sanitation,  the  treatment  of  epidemic  diseases,  and  the 
preser\'ation  of  health,  have  been  published,  especially  during  periods 
f>f  danger.  The  first  medical  congresses  convened  in  Eastern  lands  have 
been  held  under  missionary  auspices,  as  the  one  at  Calcutta  in  Decem- 
ber, 1894.  The  Medical  Missionary  Society  in  China,  with  head- 
(|uarters  at  Canton,  held  its  sixtieth  annual  meeting  in  January,  1899, 
and  the  Medical  Missionary  Association  of  China  dates  from  1886. 
The  former  cooperates  with  the  American  Presbyterian  missionaries  in 
.supporting  a  large  hospital  plant.  The  spirited  example  of  professional 
fidelity  and  esprit  de  corps  manifested  by  missionary  physicians  in  times 
of  public  peril,  or  in  private  practice,  has  been  of  value  in  introducing 
a  higher  code  among  native  practitioners.  In  addition,  the  liberality 
of  wealthy  natives,  especially  in  India  and  China,  has  been  enlisted  in 
promoting  the  establishment  and  support  of  hospitals,  and  in  providing 
lienevolent  ministries  for  the  suffering.  Quite  recently,  at  Madur.i,  in 
India,  large  gifts  were  received  from  native  princes  and  merchants  for 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


411 


the  building  of  a  hospital,  whicli  is  now  completed  and  under  the  care 
of  Dr.  Van  Allen,  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board.  I.ate  news 
from  Uganda  informs  us  that  the  King  of  Toro,  to  whom  reference 
is  made  on  page  16  of  this  volume,  is  building  a  hospital— surely 
a  sign  that  his  heart  is  responding  to  the  promptings  of  Christian 
benevolence.! 

The  use  of  anaesthetics,  the  introduction  of  vaccination,  and  the 
intelligent  treatment  of  the  epidemic  diseases  which  make  such  awful 
havoc  in  the  teeming  centres  of  Oriental  life,  are 
due,  as  a  rule,  to  missionary  physicians,  although  a     Mii«ion«ry  doctors 

^   ,  ,  .  1111  >     ,  •       ,  bearers  of  the  best  Bift« 

notable  exception  should  be  recorded  m  the  case  of  modern  science, 
of  China.  Dr.  Alexander  Pearson  and  Dr.  T.  R. 
CoUedge,  who  were  not  officially  connected  with  any  missionary  society, 
were  the  pioneers  of  modern  medical  practice  in  China.  The  former 
introduced  vaccination  in  1805,  seven  years  after  Jenner  announced 
his  discovery  in  Great  Britain,  and  Dr.  Colledge  established  the  first 
benevolent  institution  for  the  help  of  natives  in  need.  He  was  also 
the  principal  founder,  and  during  forty  years  the  President,  of  the 
Medical  Missionary  Society  in  China.  Both  these  distinguished 
physicians  were  in  the  employ  of  the  East  India  Company,  but  rendered 
much  philanthropic  service  in  their  time.  While  this  is  true.  Dr. 
Parker's  position  of  honor  remains,  as  the  first  medical  missionary  to 
China,  and  the  founder  (1835)  of  the  first  missionary  hospital  in  that 
great  empire.2  In  Northern  Siam,  Dr.  McKean,  a  resident  Presbyte- 
rian missionary,  has  been  appointed  official  vaccinator  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  through  his  persevering  efforts  the  present  generation  of  Laos 
children  will  soon  all  be  inoculated.  More  than  three  thousand  per- 
sons  were  thus  treated  by  him  in  a  single  year.  It  is  within  the  memory 
of  Dr.  McGilvary  that  only  by  argument,  appeal,  and  even  payment 
for  the  privilege,  could  the  opportunity  to  vaccinate  be  secured.  Dr. 
Bradley,  who  introduced  the  practice  into  Lower  Siam,  was  obliged  to 
hire  a  man  to  submit  ro  the  operation,  and  as  he  declined  at  the  last 
moment,  another  one  had  to  be  found.  In  1894  the  Siamese  Govern- 
ment made  vaccination,  at  its  own  expense,  compulsory. 

The  medical  treatment  of  opium  victims  in  China  is  now  a 
striking  feature  of  missionary  effort.  Although  permanent  cures 
are  not  often  effected,  unless  the  awakened  conscience  of  the  pa- 
tient, and  the  spiritual  energies  of  Christian  faith  cooperate  with 
medical  skill,  yet  every  poor  degenerate  is  a  potential  victor,  and 

I  Mtrcy  and  Truth,  February,  1898,  p.  32. 

»  Foster,  "  Christian  Progress  in  China,"  p.  162. 


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412 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


notable  instances  of  entire  recovery  are  rewarding  those  who  engage 
in  this  service.! 

Turning  our  attention  to  various  fields,  what  has  been  said  in 
general  will  be  found  illustrated  by  concrete  examples  in  many  lands. 

In  no  part  of  the  world,  however,  has  medical 

What  medical  science  science  been  more  urgently  needed,  or  accom- 

""  ind'in°di"""     Plished  more  important  results,  than  in  China  and 

India,  where  vast  populations  have  dwelt  for  cen- 
turies in  total  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  hygiene  and  sanitation,  or  of 
the  first  principles  of  an  intelligent  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery. 
Hundreds  of  shocking  incidents  pertaining  to  these  as  well  as  other 
countries  could  be  brought  forward  to  prove  the  truth  of  this  statement, 
but  the  reader  surely  does  not  require  to  be  tortured  into  conviction 
concerning  such  indubitable  facts.2 

In  India  the  saving  benefits  of  medical  science  are  apparent.  Be- 
fore the  English  occupation  there  were  no  hospitals  or  dispensaries  in 
all  the  land.*  Even  at  the  present  time  it  is  estimated  that  only  five 
per  cent,  of  the  population  is  practically  reached  by  existing  facilities. 
The  usual  expedient  when  a  fata'  termination  of  disease  seems  to  be 
imminent  is  to  remove  the  patient  from  the  house,  and,  if  possible, 
place  him  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges.      This  ominous  procedure 

1  Mr.  F.  E.  Shindler,  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  at  Kihchau,  writes  under 
date  of  April  20,  1898,  as  follows ;  "  For  nearly  ten  years  it  has  been  our  custom  at 
this  station  to  open  an  opium  refuge  annually  during  the  winter  months,  with 
the  result  that  about  thirty  men  and  women  (mostly  men)  have  broken  off  the  habit 
each  year."  He  mentions  the  cases  of  several  individuals  who  have  been  lifted  from 
the  depths  of  bondage  and  misery  to  a  happy  Christian  experience.  ' '  We  have  twenty- 
six  members  on  the  church  roll,  fourteen  of  whom  were  formerly  opium-smokers.  " 

2  "  The  amount  of  disease  and  suffering  in  China  is  very  great,  and  the  methods  uf 
native  medical  practice  tend  rather  to  increase  than  to  lessen  it.  The  rich  and  poor 
alike  suffer.  Ignorance,  superstition,  and  filth  are  as  apparent  and  potent  among  the 
wealthy  as  among  the  poverty-stricken.  Diseases  are  left  to  the  unaided  powers  of 
nature,  or,  what  is  far  worse,  are  treated  by  crude  and  inappropriate  methods. 
Scientific  diagnosis  and  rational  treatment  are  an  impossibility  even  to  the  most 
wealthy,  for  the  reason  that  a  requisite  knowledge  of  medicine  cannot  be  said  to 
exist  in  China  at  the  present  time."— Article  by  the  Rev.  George  A.  Stuart,  M.D., 
in  The  Chinese  Recorder,  October,  1896,  pp.  494,  495- 

Cf.  article  by  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Lambuth,  M.D.,  D.D.,  on  "  Medical  Missions 
in  China,"  in  The  Missionary,  February,  1894,  pp.  51-54:  March,  1894,  pp.  93-9''; 
republished  in  The  Medical  Missionary  Record,  May,  1894,  pp.  99-101.  Cf.  ala  j 
Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  July,  1896,  pp.  305-307;  The  Missiomv:, 
December,    1898,    pp.   549-552 ;  and    The  Re-ciew   of  Missions,   January,    1899. 

pp.  436-439- 

»  "  Papers  on  Indian  Religious  Reform:"  see  paper  entitled  "  India  Hmdu  ana 
India  Christian,"  p.  7. 


THE  SOCIAL   RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


413 


becomes  the  signal  for  an  indescribable  scene  of  lamentation  on  t'le 
part  of  friends.*  One  of  the  hopeful  and  notable  features  of  the  prog- 
ress of  missions  in  India  is  the  rapid  development  of  medical  study  and 
practice  by  native  women.  This  has  been  already  referred  to,  especially 
in  connection  with  the  Countess  of  Dufferin's  Fund,  which  reported, 
in  1898,  twenty-eight  lady  doctors  of  the  first  grade,  seventy  assistant 
surgeons,  second  grade,  and  seventy  hospital  assistants,  third  grade. 
The  twenty-eight  medical  women  of  the  first  grade  have  all  qualified 
by  a  thorough  course,  and  are  on  the  British  Medical  Register ;  the 
others  are  Indian-bom  and  Indian-educated,  and  of  many  nationalities, 
castes,  and  creeds.  During  the  year  1897  about  1,327,000  women 
were  treated  by  those  identified  with  this  organization.  The  total  of 
foreign  and  native  medical  women  of  all  grades,  inclusive  of  trained 
nurses,  connected  with  all  British  societies  in  India,  not  excepting  the 
Lady  Dufferin  Association,  may  be  safely  estimated  as  at  least  three 
hundred,  and  of  this  number  seventy-four  are  fully  qualified  medical 
women.  If  we  deduct,  for  reasons  already  stated  (p.  403),  the  twenty- 
eight  physicians  of  the  Lady  DuflFerin  Association,  the  total  num- 
ber of  officially  qualified  medical  women  sent  to  India  by  British 
missionary  societies  is  forty-six.  The  Lodiana  Medical  School  for  na- 
tive Christian  women,  and  the  opportunities  oflFered  by  the  admission  of 
women  to  the  medical  colleges  of  Calcutta,  Madras,  Bombay,  Lahore, 
and  Agra,  promise  large  accessions  in  the  near  future.^  When  the  stu- 
dents now  in  training  are  added,  the  number  will  be  mo.-e  than  doubled. 
In  Burma,  where  the  medical  work  of  the  American  Baptists  is  growing 
in  volume,  and  in  Siam,  especially  in  Laos,  where  the  American  Pres- 
byterians have  an  able  staff  of  physicians,  the  benefits  may  be  said  to 
be  as  marked  as  in  India. 

In  Japan  and  Korea  striking  progress  is  also  to  be  noted.     Tie 
practice  of  missionary  physicians  in  Japan  has  been  instrumental  u\ 
stimulating  the  desire  on  all  sides  for  a  better 
knowledge  of  Western  methods.     Medical  schools  *  w"  welcome  to  the 

I  i_         i.1  .1  .,.,.,  misiionary  phyaician 

and  a  number  of  hospitals  are  now  established  under     ;„  japan  and  Korea. 
Japanese  auspices.     The  training  for  nursing  and 
the  study  of  medicine  have  become  especially  popular  with  Japanese 
women.     There  are  a  large  number  of  such  medical  students  gathered 


1  *.i 


1  The  Missionary  Herald  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  (English),  February, 
1898,  p.  57. 

*  Cf.  article  by  Mary  Scharlieb,  M.D.,  on  "  Medical  Women  in  India,"  in 
The  Indian  Magazine  and  Review,  September,  1897,  pp.  441-447.  See  also  The 
Imperial  and  Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,  October,  1896,  pp.  298-305,  406-415; 


414 


CHRISTIA.y  AflSSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


l\ 


in  Tolcyo.i  An  interesting  article  by  John  C.  Berry,  M.D.,  on  "The 
Medical  Missionary  Work  of  the  American  Board  in  Japan,"  gives 
salient  facts  concerning  the  part  taken  by  that  society  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  this  branch  of  modern  science  into  the  empire.'  In  Korea  the 
people  have  received  the  missionary  physician  with  special  favor.^  In 
1895,  during  the  terrible  epidemic  of  cholera,  which  was  especially 
severe  in  Seoul,  the  missionaries  of  various  denominations  living  in  that 
city,  assisted  by  devoted  Korean  Christians,  rendered  during  the  long 
summer  months  services  marked  by  great  personal  risk  and  sacrifice, 
which  were  gratefully  recognized  by  the  Government,  and  will  never  be 
forgotten  by  multitudes  of  the  population.* 

In   Mohammedan  lands,  over  which  the  spirit  of  fatalism  has 

long  brooded,  the  promotion  of  the  scientific  practice  of  medicine  is 

changing  the  attitude  of  the  people  towards  public 

The  victory  of  medical  calamities,  and  is  placing  in  an  entirely  new  light 

skiU  over  fatalism  in        „         .        '.  „  ,.  ,.  . 

Moslem  lands.         ^H  epidemic  as  well  as  ordinary  diseases.      In 
Arabia,  a  centre  of  medical  work  has  been  estab- 
lished in  connection  with  the   Keith-Falconer  Mission  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  near  Aden,  where  Dr.  J.  C.  Young  is  stationed, 
and  with  whom  Dr.  J.  R.  Morris  has  now  become  associated.     The 


In '  8 


T/ie  Indian  Social  Reformer,  August  2,  1896,  p.  370;  Barnes,  "Behind  the 
Pardah.  'pp.  193-210;  India's  IVotnen,  \^ri\,  1895,  pp.  149-155,  September,  1897, 
pp.  199-201;  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  April,  1895,  pp.  312-31$;  T/u- 
Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  April,  1897,  pp.  280-282 ;  The  Edinburgh  Medical 
Mtssionai)  Society  Quarterly  Paper,  August,  1897,  pp.  178-180. 

1  Regions  Jieyond,  January,  1897,  p.  36. 

2  The  Missivnary  Herald,  July,  1894,  pp.  278-281. 

*  The  Korean  Repository,  January,  1898,  p.  32. 

"  '  That  doctor  did  not  come  from  America,  but  from  heaven,'  exclaimed  the 
wondering  Korean  courtiers  as  the  missionary  Allen  left  the  palace.  Their  prince 
had  been  wounded,  and  was  dying  from  loss  of  blood,  thirteen  native  surgeons  hav- 
ing tried  in  vain  to  stop  the  bleeding  by  pouring  molten  wax  into  the  wound.  The 
American  missionary's  treatment  saved  his  life,  and  won  an  entrance  for  the  Gospel 
into  the  court  of  hermit  V-om." —Regiotis  Beyond,  February,  1894,  p.  76. 

*  The  Korean  Repository,  September,  1895,  pp.  339-344. 

"  During  the  epidemic  of  1895,  at  Seoul,  Korea,  whether  as  inspectors,  or  as 
physicians  and  nurses  in  the  two  cholera  hospitals,  nearly  all  the  members  of  the 
two  Presbyterian  Missions,  the  Baptist  Mission,  and  the  medical  staff  of  the  Metho- 
dist Mission,  were  engaged  in  fighting  cholera.  It  was  work  hard  and  trying,  both 
to  the  health  and  sympathies  of  the  workers.  It  was  done  in  the  heat  of  summer, 
after  a  year  of  mission  toil,  just  when  tired  bodies  needed  rest ;  done  night  and  day, 
in  the  midst  of  sufTering  and  grief,  among  the  dying  and  the  dead.  But,  again,  it  was 
undertaken  for  Christ's  sake  and  for  humanity,  and  that  made  all  the  difference  in 
tlie  world.     A  number  of  Korean  Christians  cheerfully  joined  in  the  perilous  task, 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


416 


fame  of  Dr.  Young's  skill  has  so  penetrated  the  interior  that  his  patients 
journey  sometimes  from  ten  to  fifteen  days  to  visit  him.  Another 
effort  is  under  the  auspices  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  America,  at 
Busrah  and  Bahrein,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Arabian  peninsula. 
Three  medical  missionaries,  Dr.  H.  R.  L.  Worrall,  Dr.  Sharon  J. 
Thorns,  and  Mrs.  Thoms,  who  is  also  a  medical  graduate,  are  now  at 
these  outposts.  In  the  Turkish  Empire,  a  large  and  important  medical 
school  is  conducted  at  Beirut,  v/here  scientific  training  of  high  grade 
is  given,  and  the  tone  and  standard  of  practice  have  been  thereby 
greatly  raised  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  The  American  Board  has  its 
missionary  physicians  stationed  throughout  Asia  Minor,  as  the  names 
of  Drs.  Parmelee,  at  Trebizond,  Dodd,  at  Cesarea  (where  a  hosi)ital 
has  just  been  opened),  Carrington,  at  Marsovan,  Raynolds,  at  Van, 
Thom,  at  Mardin,  and  Ussher,  at  Harpoot,  indicate. 

In  Persia,  Dr.  Joseph  P.  Cochran,  at  Urumiah,*  and  Dr.  G.  W. 
Holmes,  at  Hamadan,  both  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission, 
have  charge  of  two  busy  centres  of  medical  effort, 
where  instruction  is  also  given  to  classes  of  native  ''•*•  •"'«••  »t«nding  of 
students.  Dr.  Carr,  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  and  his  associates,  conduct  a  hospital 
at  Julfa.  Other  stations,  such  as  Tabriz,  under  Dr.  W.  S.  Vanne- 
man,  and  Teheran,  under  Dr.  J.  G.  Wishard  (successor  to  Dr.  W.  W, 
Torrence),  where  a  hospital  is  now  established,  should  be  men- 
tioned. Dr.  Wishard  has  just  graduated  his  first  class  of  medical 
students.  In  connection  with  the  Persia  missions  are  some  accom- 
plished women  physicians— Dr.  Mary  E.  Bradford,  at  Tabriz,  Dr. 
Emma  T.  Miller,  at  Urumiah,  Dr.  Mary  J.  Smith,  at  Teheran,  and 
Dr.  Jessie  C.  WiLson,  at  Hamadan.  Dr.  Emmeline  M.  Stuart,  and 
Dr.  Urania  Latham,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  are  at  Julfa. 
Mr.  M.  G.  Daniel,  a  native  of  Persia,  who  has  written  a  volume  on 
the  modem  development  of  the  country,  speaks  with  enthusiasm  of  the 
influence  of  Dr.  Cochran,  and  of  the  commanding  position  which 
medical  missions  have  assumed  among  all  ranks,  from  the  Shah  to  the 
peasant.     He  states  that  "the  name  'hospital'  was  unknown  there 


medical  miktiont 
in  Persia. 


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it 


'■•-       J. 


and  it  is  a  cause  for  gratitude  to  God  that,  while  death  was  all  about  us,  like  the 
destroying  angel  in  the  households  of  Egypt,  none  cf  the  foreign  community,  and 
but  two  or  three  of  the  Korean  Christians  in  the  city,  were  taken  away  by  the 
dreadful  disease."— Rev.  D.  L.  Gifford,  in  Woman's  Work  for  Woman,  \-ag\xi\., 
1896,  p.  213. 

'  A  sketch  of  Dr.  Cochran  appears  in  The  Double  Cross  and  Medical  Missionary 
Record,  January,  1898,  p.  j. 


<  I: 


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416  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PXOGKESS 

until  the  missionaries  came,"  and  that  hundreds  died  of  smallpox 
before  the  introduction  of  vaccination  by  medical  missionaries.*  The 
estabb'shment  of  modem  medical  science  through  mission  agencies 
clearly  marks  a  humanitarian  epoch  in  Western  Asia. 

The  African  Continent  for  unknown  generations  has  been  under 
the  dreadful  delusions  of  fetichism  and  witchcraft,  while  supposed 

masters  in  these  occult  mysteries  have  posed  as 

Supplanting  th«  ttrrors  healers  of  disease.     Many  of  the  pioneer  mission- 

°'*''!n"Afri'r"^     ary  physicians  of  the  Dark  Continent  have  found 

themselves  face  to  face  with  these  cruel  chariatans, 
and  have  succeeded  in  overthrowing  their  devices.  The  revolutionary 
effects  which  must  follow  the  destruction  of  witchcraft  and  quackery 
are  far-reaching.  The  immemorial  sway  of  ignorance  and  deception 
is  already  waning.'  Wherever  missions  have  entered  the  Continent 
they  are  slowly  supplanting  the  ancient  terrors  of  the  native  quack  by 
the  introduction  of  medical  knowledge.  In  the  interior,  where  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  the  Universities'  Mi.ssion,  the  Scottish  mis- 
sionaries,3  the  American  and  English  Baptists,  the  London  Missionary 

1  Daniel,  "  Modern  Persia,"  pp.  196-203.     Cf.  also  Wilson,  "  Penia:  Western 

Mission,"  pp.  7.  358-290- 

2  ■'  Do  you  suppose  that  when  the  missionary  societies  began  to  send  medical 
missionaries  to  Africa  they  had  any  very  cleur  idea  as  to  what  the  greatest  potency 
of  physicians  and  surgeons  would  prove  to  be?  It  is  already  found  in  some  places 
that  these  specialists  are  striking  at  the  very  root  of  an  evil  which,  perhaps  more 
than  any  other  one  influence,  keeps  the  native  African  degraded.  That  is  the  super- 
stition which  has  invested  the  fetich-doctor  >vith  mysterious  power  over  human  life 
and  happiness.  No  man  can  grow  intellectually  while  he  believes  the  fetich-doctor 
can  exorcise  the  evil  spirits  that  make  him  ill,  or  sell  him  charms  that  will  bring 
victory  in  battle.  No  man  can  progress  so  long  as  a  gieedy  chief,  eager  to  seize  tlie 
little  property  his  subject  has  gathered,  may  call  in  the  fetich-man  to  declare  hiin  a 
witch  and  condemn  him  to  death.  The  glimmer  of  an  idea  is  dawning  upon  many 
of  these  people,  that  the  real  healers  are  these  men  who  have  come  among  them, 
and  that  there  is  nothing  supernatural  about  their  skill.  They  are  beginning  to  ,ee 
the  imposition  that  has  kept  them  prostrate. "-Paper  by  Cyrus  C.  Adams,  on  "  Some 
Results  of  the  African  Movement,"  in  "  Africa  and  the  African  Negro:  Addresses 
and  Proceedings  of  the  Congress  on  Africa,  Atlanta,  1895,"  p.  38. 

»  Captain  Lugard,  in  "  The  Rise  of  Our  East  African  Empire,"  has  expressed 
his  view  of  the  value  of  medical  missions  in  Africa,  and,  incidentally,  of  the  work 
of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  missionaries  on  Lake  Nyassa,  as  follows :  "  Be)Hjnd 
doubt,  I  think,  in  the  initial  stages  of  savage  development,  the  most  useful  missions 
are  the  medical  and  industrial.  A  combination  of  the  two  is,  in  my  opinion,  an 
ideal  mission.  Such  is  the  plan  of  the  Scotch  Free  Church  on  Lake  Nyassa.  The 
medical  missionary  begins  work  with  every  advantage.    Throughout  Africa  the  ideas 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOS'S 


417 


Society,  and  the  French  Evangeh'cal  Society,  have  penetrated,  the  gentle 
heart  and  the  healing  touch  of  the  Christian  physician  have  entered 
upon  their  sacred  mission.  The  Rev.  F.  Coillard,  with  that  enthusiasm 
which  .so  often  characterizes  his  writings,  has  expressed  his  desire  for 
medical  skill  as  a  missionary  agency  among  the  Barotsi.  He  wri'es : 
"  Oh,  if  I  could  but  grow  young  again,  how  ardently  I  would  apply 
myself  to  the  study  of  medicine!  And,  thus  furnished  with  the  fullert 
possible  equipment,  medical  and  theological,  with  what  joy  I  would 
go  forth  to  relieve  the  physical  and  moral  miseries  of  these  poor 
heathen!  They  do  not  understand  how  it  is  that  the  messengers  of 
Jesu.s,  •  who  healed  all  manner  of  disease,'  cannot  cure  those  of  the 
l)ody  as  well  as  those  of  the  soul.  A  cure  is  in  their  eyes  a  proof  of 
our  apostleship.     And  can  we  blame  them?  "  > 

In  almost  every  instance  in  the  experience  of  medical  mis.sionaries 
in  Africa,  it  was  at  first  a  fight  with  smallpox,  but  wherever  the  physi- 
cian has  gone  he  has  carried  with  him  treatment  by  vaccination. 
Again,  it  is  a  protest  against  the  excruciating  and  perhaps  even  fatal 
torture  of  a  helpless  patient.  Some  exhibition  of  medical  and  surgical 
skill  has  finally  conquered  prejudice,  the  tidings  have  been  carried  in 
all  directions,  and  from  far  and  near  the  patients  have  come  in  throngs 
to  seek  the  benefit  of  such  mysterious  healing.  The  medical  missionary 
lias  thus  become  the  representative  of  the  new  religion,  with  power  to 
work  wonders  which  to  native  eyes  seem  little  less  than  miracles.  As 
time  goes  on,  the  dispensary  and  hospital  are  introduced,  and  con- 
stitute a  Mecca  of  healing  towards  which  thousands  make  their 
piljjrimage. 

In  the  neighboring  Island  of  Madagascar  much  attention  has  been 

of  the  cure  of  the  body  and  of  the  sou!  are  closely  allied.  The  '  medicine-man '  is 
credited  not  only  with  a  knowledge  of  the  simples  and  drugs  which  may  avert  or 
cure  disease,  but,  owing  to  the  superstitions  of  the  people,  he  is  also  supposed  to 
have  a  knowledge  of  the  charms  and  dawa  which  will  invoke  the  aid  of  the  Deity  or 
appease  his  wrath,  and  of  the  witchcraft  and  magic  (;//«)  by  which  success  in  war, 
immunity  from  danger,  or  a  supply  of  rain  may  be  obtained.  As  the  skill  of  the 
European  in  medicine  asserts  its  superiority  over  the  crude  methods  of  the  medicine- 
man, so  does  he  in  proportion  gain  an  influence  in  his  teaching  of  the  great  truths 
of  Christianity.  .  .  .  The  medical  missionary,  moreover,  gains  an  admission  to  the 
houses  and  homes  of  the  natives,  by  virtue  of  his  art,  which  would  not  be  so  readily 
accorded  to  another.  He  becomes  their  adviser  and  referee,  and  his  counsels  are 
substituted  for  the  magic  and  witchcraft  which  retard  developr.ient."— Quoted  in 
The  Fret  Church  of  Scotland  Monthly,  January,  1894,  p.  16. 
»  CoiUard,  "  On  the  Threshold  of  Central  Africa,"  p.  583 


418 


CHRISTIAX  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


given  to  medical  work,  and  also  to  the  instruction  of  native  physicians, 
by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  English  Friends,  and  the 
Norwegian  Missionary  Society,  as  has  been  shown 
othar land!  ihar*  in  ^V  the  Mcdlcal  Missionary  Academy  at  Antan- 
tha  banaflta.  anarivn,  and  the  extensive  hospitals  at  Antanan- 

arivo, Fianarantsoa,  AntKiral)e,and  in  the  Sihanaka 
district.  Some  of  these  buildings  have  been  requisitioned  by  the 
French,  and  it  seems  unlikely  that  they  will  be  restored  to  their 
former  owners  and  devoted  again  to  their  original  purpose. 

In  the  West  Indies,  Mcxici>,  and  the  South  American  Continent, 
medical  missions  have  been  introduced  to  some  extent.  The  degraded 
Indians  of  North  and  South  America,  whose  methods  of  treating  disea.se 
are  shocking  in  their  cruelty,  have  not  been  neglected.  A  journey  of 
1 200  miles  in  canoes  must  be  taken  into  the  heart  of  Brazil,  to  reach 
one  of  these  Indian  outposts  up  the  Tocantins  River,  where  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  James  A.  Graham,  both  of  whom  are  medical  missionaries,  have 
been  sent  by  the  Missionary  Pence  Association  of  Great  Britain.  Here 
and  there  in  the  Pacific  Islands  the  same  beneficent  service  has  been 
rendered  by  the  Wesleyan  and  London  Missionary  Societies  and  the 
American  Board,  which  have  been  heralds  of  the  Gospel  in  the  South 
Seas. 

The  introduction  of  scientific  medical  knowledge,  with  its  modem 
facilities,  is  an  incident  of  surpassing  interest  in  missionary  achievement, 
and  an  event  of  benign  import  in  the  spiritual,  social,  and  physical 
history  of  mankind.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  consider  it  abstractly  and 
dwell  upon  its  general  significance ;  we  must  inspect  it  more  closely  in 
its  practical  outcome  and  its  present  varied  activities.  To  this  purpose 
the  following  section  is  devoted. 


I, 


II.  Conducting  Dispensaries,  Infirmaries,  and  Hospitals. 
— These  institutions  are  important  and  necessary  adjuncts  to  modern 
medical  science.  Its  introduction  calls  for  them,  as  art  calls  for  its 
tools,  or  industry  for  its  mechanical  facilities  and  its  "  opeii  door." 
It  is  not  desirable  to  repeat  in  this  section  much  that  has  been 
sufficiently  dwelt  upon  in  the  preceding  pages.  Our  object  will 
be  attained  if  we  can  give  even  glimpses  of  the  real  magnitude  and 
splendid  efficiency  of  these  institutional  plants,  located  at  many  points 
in  mission  fields,  with  here  and  there  a  reference  to  the  men  and  women 
who  serve  them.  To  do  justice  to  this  theme  would  require  an  entire 
volume. 


•A       < 


!    S 


s 


7  » 
s  'J 


i      X 


I  '^ 


t 


Jr 


i  'i'h 


^:  i  II 


» I* 


H  I 

If:     hi 

\  i    -   :    : 

THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


419 


An  attempt  to  visit  in  person  the  widely  scattered  stations  through- 
out the  world,  where  the  six  hundred  and  eighty  medical  missionaries 
at  present  in  the  field  are  located,  would  occupy 
no  small  portion  of  a  lifetime.    We  should  have  to   '^^'*  IhrTillr"" 
penetrate  four  hundred  miles  within  the  Arctic     with  the  mistionary 
Circle,  in  order  to  reach  Point  Barrow,  on  the    ""»""  "f*".  world, 
northern  shores  of  Alaska,  where  only  a  yearly  mail  is  delivered  to  Dr. 
and  Mrs.   Marsh,  home  missionaries  of   the  Northern   Presbyterian 
Church  of  America.*     Upon  the  journey  thither,  we  must  call  at  Sitka, 
Ketchikan,  Circle  City,  :nd  Point  Hope,  where  Presbyterian  and,  in 
the  last  three  stations,  Protestant    Episcopal   medical    missions  are 
planted.     We  should  have  to  traverse  the  wilds  of  the  Canadian  north, 
land,  and  sail  along  the  coast  of  Labrador,  where,  on  behalf  of  the 
Mission  to  Deep  Sea  Fishermen,  Dr.  Wilfred  T.  Grenftll  and  his 
associates   have   established   hospitals,   and    cruise    from    station   to 
station  in  their  hospital  ships,  and  where  the  Moravians  also  render 
medical  services  to  the  people.^     Still  due  north  of  Labrador,  off  the 
bleak  shores  of  Cumberiand  Sound,  is  Blacklead  Island,  where  Mr.  C.  G. 
Sampson,  associated  with  the  Rev.  E.  J.  Peck,  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society,  is  "  doctoring  and  visiting  the  people  at  all  hours  of  the 
(lay  and  night."  '     Thence  we  must  cross  to  Greenland,  and  touch  at 
some  of  the  Moravian  and  Danish  outposts,  where  missionaries  minister 
to  the  sick  in  the  most  northerly  mission  stations  in  the  world.*     In 
our  long  journey  we  should  have  to  bkirt  the  coasts  of  Africa  and  Asia, 
and  penetrate  great  waterways  like  the  Nile,  the  Zambesi,  the  Congo, 
the  Niger,  and  the  Yang-tse.     We  should  be  obliged  to  climb  the 
Himalayas,  and  even  scale  their  heights  to  Srinagar  and   Leh,  at 
which  latter  outpost  Dr.  Ernest  Shawe,  of  the  Moravians,  has  lately 
settled.     It  would  be  necessary  to  land  upon  distant  shores  in  the 
deep  calm  of  the  tropics,  and  upon  rocky  islets  in  isolated  groups  of 
the  vast  Pacific*    We  should  be  compelled  to  round  Cape  Horn,  and 
journey  among  the  Araucanians  and  the  Chacos  of  the  Argentine  plains. 
We  should  have  to  visit  the  Indies,  West  and  East,  not  omitting  the 
Moravian  stations  on  the  coasts  of  Central  and  South  America,  and 

I  Tht  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  December,  1897,  p.  451. 

»  Grenfell,  "  Vikings  of  To-day,"  pp.  44,  100.  207,  213,  214;  Tht  Congrega. 
tionaliit,  March  4,  1897;  Periodical  Accounts  Relating  to  Moravian  Missions, 
December,  1897,  pp.  375-377. 

*  The  Church  Missionary  Gleaner,  January,  1899,  p.  2. 

*  Upernivik,  on  the  western  coast,  is  in  Kititude  72<=  48'  N. 

»  Edinburgh  Medical  Missionary  Society  Quarterly  Paper,  May,  1898,  p.  276. 


i 


1      ■! 


420 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PXOGRESS 


i 

n 

t.  '■ 

i| 

^    '1 

i  u 

lonely  outposts  in  the  depths  of  the  Continent.  Thus  we  should  have 
to  wander  around  the  world  in  perpetual  zigzags,  often  availing  our- 
selves of  the  facilities  of  modern  travel  by  railways  and  steamships, 
but  sometimes  in  sailing  vessels,  small  boats,  or  canoes,  again  on  horse- 
back, or  riding  on  elephants,  camels,  mules,  bullocks,  or  donkeys,  in 
sledges,  carts,  jinrikishas,  palanquins,  hammocks,  or  wheelbarrows,  and 
now  and  then  on  the  shoulders  of  carriers,  or,  where  all  else  failed  us, 
plodding  our  own  way  over  mountains  and  plains,  across  desert  wastes, 
through  pathless  forests  and  tangled  jungles,  in  endless  variety.  He 
must  be  a  good  traveller  and  live  many  years  who  would  compass  this 
immense  achievement. 

An  excursion  through  China  alone  for  the  inspection  of  medical 

missionary  institutions  would  be  no  easy  task.     They  dot  the  coast 

provinces  from  Pakhoi  to  Moukden  and  Kalgan, 

An  excursion  through   q^  (j^g  north,  extending  still  southward  to  Hoihow 

China  alone  would  ,    »t    j  •      tt    ■  j  i  ,  ,-•  ■ 

be  no  easy  task.  and  Ncdoa,  in  Hainan,  and  northward  to  Kirin 
and  Kwanchengtzu,  in  Manchuria.  They  are  in 
the  far  interior,  westward  of  Hankow  and  Wuchang,  beyond  Chung- 
king and  Suifu,  at  Tungchuan,Chautung,  Kiating,Chentu,and  Lanchau. 
Within  this  circle  of  outposts  we  may  visit  one  hundred  and  fifty  cities, 
towns,  or  villages  where  the  good  ministry  goes  on  with  its  unceasing 
activities.  It  would  be  interesting  to  speak  of  this  work  in  detail,  but 
quite  impossible  with  our  present  limitations.  We  can  call  only  here 
and  there  for  a  glimpse  at  some  typical  plants  which  may  be  considered 
as  representative  of  all. 

Moukden,  in  Manchuria,  is  a  station  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland,  with  a  hospital  and  dispensary  for  men,  and  the 
same  provision  for  women,  where  the  .sum  total  of 
A  call  at  Moukden  and   treatments  given  annually  to  patients,  according 
Canton.  {q  a  recent  report,  was  31,703.1     At  Canton  we 

find  the  American  Presbyterians  (North),  the 
American  Board,  and  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ  conducting  medi- 
cal work,  in  connection  with   which   70,500  annual  treatments  are 

*  In  the  record  of  hospital  statistics  the  distinction  between  individual  patients 
and  the  number  of  treatments  should  not  be  ignored.  In  most  instances  tlie  returns 
of  medical  work,  as  recorded  in  the  published  reports,  give  the  number  of  separ.itc 
treatments  rather  than  the  number  of  individual  patients,  some  of  whom  may  be 
treated  several  times  during  the  course  of  the  year,  and  each  visit  counted  as  a 
treatment.  In  some  cases,  on  the  other  hand,  only  the  number  of  actual  patient'  is 
given,  without  counting  their  return  visits  for  repeated  treatment.  In  certain  in- 
stances it  is  not  clear  whether  patients  or  treatments  are  intended  in  the  retiirn>. 
A  careful  comparison  of  data  where  both  the  patients  and  the  treatments  are  tjivon 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS  421 

recorded  in  the  latest  available  reports.  Dr.  Hager's  itinerating  dis- 
pensary and  Dr.  A.  A.  Fulton's  medical  boat  are  included  in  the  above 
summary,  as  also  the  work  on  the  Island  of  Honam,  in  charge  of  the 
Woman's  Missionary  Association  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 
Dr.  John  G.  Kerr,  a  veteran  in  the  medical  missionary  ranks  of  China, 
has  served  in  the  Canton  Hospital  for  forty-five  years.  His  record  of 
operations  in  lithotomy  is  said  to  exceed  that  of  any  other  living  sur- 
geon.i  The  total  of  cases  treated  in  that  hospital  and  its  dispensaries 
during  this  period  is  1,156,965.  The  rapid  increase  in  number  is 
apparent  from  the  fact  that  fully  one  half  of  the  above  have  been 
received  within  the  last  ten  years.  The  Canton  Hospital  is  owned  and 
supported  by  the  Medical  Mission  Society  in  China,  and  in  its  medical 
and  surgical  requirements  is  served  by  missionaries  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Church.  Its  number  of  treatments  during  the  year  1897 
(41.354)  is  the  largest  of  any  missionary  hospital  in  China. 

At  Shanghai,  an  important  centre,  there  are  four  hospitals  and 
several   dispensaries,   representing   the   AVoman's   U.iion   Missionary 
Society,    the    American     Protestant     Episcopal    a  vi.it  to  Shanghai. 
Church,  and   the   Seventh-day  Baptists,  with  a     Swatow,  FoocHow. 
total,  according  to  late  reports,  of  61,662  yeariy   ^^r.;  wt.'twa°d't'o"' 
treatments.      A  large    hospital    located    on  the  Chungkine. 

grounds  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  served  spiritually  by 
L.  M.  S.  missionaries,  is  not  controlled  by  that  society,  so  its  returns 

indicates  that  the  number  of  patients  multiplied  by  three  will  fairly  represent 
the  average  number  of  treatments,  and,  vice  versa,  that  the  number  of  treat- 
ments divided  by  three  will  give  the  number  of  individual  patients.  In  the  sta- 
tistics  given  in  this  section  concerning  the  work  of  different  hospitals  and  dis- 
pensaries, the  returns  recorded,  unless  expressly  stated  to  signify  i)atients,  indicate 
the  number  of  separate  treatments  annually,  which  may  be  considered  as  averaging 
in  a  few  instances  two,  but  usually  three,  times  the  number  of  individual  patients. 
.Some  accepted  system  of  recording  medical  statistics,  used  in  common  by  all  societies, 
IS  greatly  needed,  in  order  to  save  confusion  and  insure  accuracy.  Nothing  in  the 
published  returns  has  fallen  under  the  author's  eye  more  complete  and  admirable 
than  the  tables  given  in  the  "  Report  on  Foreign  Missions  of  the  United  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  Scotland,  1898,"  p.  67,  a  copy  of  which  is  here  appended. 


i 

«5 

Dispensaries. 

Surgical  Operations. 

In-Patie 

NTS. 

Visits. 

Male. 

Female. 

1 

On 
Males. 

On 
Females. 

1 

Male. 
Female. 

"3  ! 

1 

New      Old 
Cases.  Cases 

1 

New 
Cases. 

Old 
Cases. 

i 

s 

i 

c 

s 

Major. 
Minor. 

i  'I    ->] 


il 


M 


l> 


>  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  November,  1898,  p.  390, 


422 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


\^i 


are  not  included  in  this  aggregate  of  yearly  treatments.  A  word 
of  explanation  seems  to  be  required  concerning  the  peculiar  status  of 
this  fine  institution.  It  is  supported  by  the  foreign  community  of 
Shanghai,  and  served  by  foreign  resident  practitioners  not  identified 
with  any  missionary  agency,  although  its  spiritual  interests,  as  stated 
before,  are  in  the  care  of  missic.iaries  of  the  London  Society.  It 
cannot,  therefore,  be  wholly  classed  as  a  missionary  institution,  but  it 
is  a  pleasure  to  emphasize  its  usefulness  and  call  attention  to  its  im- 
mense activities.  According  to  a  recent  report  it  registered  92,513 
annual  treatments  of  out-patients,  and  also  a  list  of  1127  in-patients. 
At  the  Margaret  Williamson  Hospital,  of  the  Woman's  Union  Missionary 
Society,  also  at  Shanghai,  we  shall  find  Dr.  Elizabeth  Reifsnyder  and 
her  associate.  Dr.  Emma  Garner.  The  former  has  been  in  charge  of 
the  hospital  since  its  establishment  in  1884,  and  during  these  years  has 
received  over  200,000  individual  patients,  many  of  whom  have  returned 
for  repeated  treatments.  The  daily  average  of  those  to  whom  she 
and  Dr.  Garner  minister  in  hospital  and  dispensary  is  over  one 
hundred,  coming  from  many  cities  and  villages.  Dr.  Reifsnyder's 
skill  in  surgical  cases  has  been  a  great  boon  to  her  patients.  Some 
tumors  have  been  removed  by  her  which  are  thought  to  be  larger 
than  those  of  any  other  successful  operations  recorded  in  the  practice 
of  surgery.i  Special  care  is  taken  to  supplement  these  medical  services 
by  religious  teaching.  The  hospital  is  visited  regularly  by  Miss  Mary  J. 
Irvine,  and  two  native  evangelists  also  aid,  chiefly  in  the  dispensary.  It 
is  interesting  to  learn  that  about  half  the  support  of  the  hospital  is 
received  from  the  Chinese  themselves. 

More  than  a  thousand  miles  in  the  interior,  almost  due  west  of 
Shanghai,  is  Chungking,  where  the  American  Methodists,  the  English 
Friends,  and  the  London  Missionary  Society  have  a  record  in  their 
hospitals  and  dispensaries,  according  to  recent  reports,  of  ro,ii8 
annual  treatments.  It  may  be  noted  that  this  is  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  a  day  throughout  the  year.  There  are  many  other  places 
which  seem  to  demand  a  word  of  description  and  comment.  The 
English  Presbyterians  receive  in  their  hospital  at  Swatow,  under 
the  care  of  Drs.  Alexander  Lyall  and  John  M.  Dalziel,  over  2500 
in-patients  annually,  the  largest  number  of  this  class  of  patients  cared 
for  at  any  single  missionary  institution  in  foreign  mission  fields.  The 
Women's  Missionary  Association  of  the  same  Church  is  about  to  in- 
crease the  plant  by  opening  a  Woman's  Hospital.  At  Foochow  the 
American  Methodists,  through  their  Woman's  Society,  conduct  two 

1  "  The  China  Mission  Iland-Book"  (first  issue,  1890),  p.  itb. 


I  ^  ^ 


'^  i 


Exterior  and  Interior  Views. 
HE  >.  Wells    Williams    Pavilion    ok   Margarkt  Williamson    Hospital,    Shanghai. 

(\V.  V.  M.S  I 


1.  y      I  .  i  J:- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


423 


hospitals  and  three  dispensaries  exclusively  for  women,  where  18,794 
treatments  were  given  last  year.  At  Amoy  the  new  building  of  "  Hope 
Hospital,"  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  was  opened  April  27, 
1898.  During  the  first  seven  months  since  his  recent  return  to  Amoy, 
Dr.  J.  A.  Otte,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  hospital,  has  seen  6000  patients 
and  performed  319  operations,  none  of  the  latter  having  been  at- 
tended with  fatal  results.  A  joyous  record  is  this,  and  so  we  could 
continue  to  follow  a  luminous  pathway  of  healing  ministry  from  city 
to  city  throughout  the  empire.  The  total  of  mission  hospitals  in  China 
is  123,  and  the  number  of  dispensaries  is  242. » 

1  The  number  is  so  large  that  only  a  partial  record  can  be  inserted  here.  The 
following  list  of  important  centres  of  medical  work  in  China  is  restricted  to  stations 
reporting  more  than  15,000  annaal  treatments.  More  complete  returns  may  be 
found  in  the  statistical  appendix  in  Vol.  III. 


Treatmints. 
....15,249 
, . . .  16,400 
. . . .  16,467 
,...16,692 
...16,749 

•  ••16,759 
. . .  16,837 


Station. 

Soa«Tv. 

Taikn 

•  A.  B.  C.  F.  M 

TnngcV    

.A.  B.  C.  F.  M 

Ch'     aiu 

.P.  B.  F.M.N 

Chingchowfu 

.E,  B.  M.  S.  .. 

Chinchow 

r.  C.  I.  M.  S. 

Chuwang C.  P.  M 

Amoy fL.  M.S. 

I  Ref.  C.  A. 

Chiningchow P.  B.  F.  M.  N. 

Chinchew E.  P.  C.  M 

Pakhoi C.  M.  S 

Tungkun R.  M.  S 

Ichowfn P.  B.  F.  M.  N. 

Hong  Kong L.  M.  S 

Hankow (W.  M.  S. 

(L.  M.  S. 
Tsunhua M.  E.  M.  S 

/C.  M.  S. 

Ningpo U.  B.  M.  U. 

F.  M.  S. 

Ki-ng  Ning C.  M.  S 

Chef 00 C.  I.  M 

Paotingfu (A.B.C.F.M. 

(P.  B.  F.M.N. 
Pang  Chnang A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 

iC.  M.  M.  S. 
^"»"» Jm.E.  M.  S. 

I C.  I.  M.        (no 

Swatow (A.B.M.  U. 

(E.  P.  C.  M. 


6. 553) 
10,284/ ' 


10,822) 
11,000/ 


17.646 

17,802 

18,146 

18,347 

....  19,050 
21,171 

....21,822 


iQ.  M.  S.  6,236) 

•  ]  A.  B.  M.  U.  6,936  \ 

(U.  M.  F.  M.  S.    10,276) 


22,487 

23.448 


11.782) 
13.759/' 

i5,ooo\ 

11.329  >• 
returns) ) 
13.381) 
141741/' 


.23,818 
.  24,096 

•25.541 

■  26,125 

.26,329 
.28,123 


i  w 


Ml 


h' 


434 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PKOGRESS 


M 


SI!'  I' 


The  most  prominent  medical  service  in  J»p*n  has  been  under  the 
auspices  of  the  American  Board,  but  it  has  now  passed  in  large  part 
into  the  care  of  the  Japanese.     The  native  Chris. 
M,dic.ir..uH.inj.p.n.  tians  of  the  Kumiai  churches  have  shown  them- 
Formosa,  and  Korea,    selves  ready  to  assume  responsibility  in  this  depart- 
ment.    The  hospital  and  dispensaries  at  Osaka 
and  Kobe  have  been  retained  by  the  Board  in  charge  of  Dr.  Wallace 
M.  Taylor.     At  Akita,  on  the  northwest  coast  of  the  main  island,  the 
Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  has  medical  work  conducted  by 
Dr.  Nina  A.  Stevens.     Mrs.  Stevens  seems  to  be  the  only  woman  physi- 
cian, among  the  foreign  missionaries,  at  present  in  charge  of  a  dispensary 
in  Japan.    She  reports  1 7  50  patients  treated  annually,  and  two  Japanese 
women  pupils  taking  a  course  in  practical  medicine.     The  Protestant 
Episcopal  Missionary  Society  is  actively  engaged  at  Tokyo  and  Osaka, 


Station. 


Soochow , 


Moakden . . . 
Chouping  . . . 


Wuchang  . 


(Contioucd  from  p.  413.) 
SOCWTV. 

rP.  B.  F.  M.  S. 
.  B.  F.  M.  N. 
,E.  S. 
.U.  P.  C.  S.  M 
.E.  B.  M.  S... 
M.S. 


(m. 


9,a6o\ 
(new)V. 
20,414' 


Treatments. 


/P.  E.  M.  i 
•  \  W.  M.  S. 
(l.  M.  S. 


Foochow •} ,, 


Tientsin 


Nanking 


B.  C.  F.  M 
M.  E.  M.  S. 
M.  E.  M.  S. 

M.S. 
M.  E.  M.  S. 


r 


...a9,684 

i1t^o^ 

33.116 

7,5io[ 33.880 

6,000) 

"•^n 40,489 


.41.145 


.4a.9" 


18,794 » 

17.93a)* 

2I.3S7) 

17.555  [ 

4,000) 

s 43.097 

38,259) 
6,8S9[ 5o."8 

5,000) 
30,610  \ 
26,475  [ ^'•^' 

4.577) 
49.354) 
19,896V 70.500 

1,250) 

30.717] 
30,000 

28,590  y 99.700 

7,080 

3i3uJ 


■ 


Dpiriitin)?  K<K>m  of  Hope  Muspital 
Dr.  J.  A.  (Hte,  and  Assistants. 

/Tt.    »       BuildinRs  of  Hope  Hospital,  and  Woman's  .\nne.\ 

U tie  funds  fur  tlic  Woman's  Hospital  were  given  in  the  Netherlands.! 

The    Hope   Hospii.ai,    Amo^,   China. 
{Ret.  t".  A.) 


i     1 


jy 

THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


435 


with  •  ram  total  of  18,307  annual  treatmenu.  In  some  centres  medi- 
cal work  which  was  originally  established  through  foreign  missionary 
effort  has  been  placed  under  Japanese  control,  as,  for  example,  the 
Doshisha  Hospital,  Dispensary,  and  Nurses'  Training-school.  In 
Formosa  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  England  and  Canada  have 
planted  medical  facilities— the  former  at  Tainanfu,  the  capital  (for- 
mcrly  called  Taiwanfu),  where  11,113  patients  are  reported,  and  also 
at  Chianghoa,  where  it  is  proposed  to  open  a  hospital.  A  hospital 
for  women  is  also  soon  to  be  established  at  Tainanfu  by  the  Women's 
Missionary  Association  of  the  English  Presbyterians.  The  Canadian 
Presbyterian  Church  conducts  the  MacKay  Hospital  and  Dispensary 
at  Tamsui,  reporting  6411  treatmti.ts,  and  at  many  places  in  the 
island  dispensaries  are  opened  at  intervals  by  the  missionaries  of  that 
Church  and  their  native  assistants. 

In  Korea  the  principal  societies  engaged  in  medical  operations  are 
the  American  Presbyterians  (North  and  South),  the  American  Metho- 
dists (North  and  South),  and  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel.  Hospitals  or  dispensaries  are  t  Stained  at  Seoul,  Chemulpo, 
Fusan,  Kunsan,  Wonsan,  Tagoo,  Pyt..  ang,  Chunju,  Songdo,  and 
Makpo.  The  total  number  of  annual  tuatments  reported  from  these 
stations  is  about  fifty  thousand. 

In  India  medical  agencies  are  found  upon  a  scale  of  great  magni- 
tude, and  yet  if  we  attempt  to  estimate  the  necessities  of  tl:  it  immense 
country,  we  soon  realize  how  scattered  and  frag- 
mcntary,  after  all,  is  the  service  rendered,  in  pro-  ,„di.  do,..d  with  m.d.. 
portion  to  the  incalculable  needs  of  that  teeming  «•»  "tation.. 

population.  It  is  not  practicable  to  attempt  to 
locate  and  describe  in  detail  the  103  hospitals  and  254  dispensaries 
which  missions  have  planted  in  prominent  centres  of  India.  From 
Srinagar  and  Leh,  in  Kashmir,  among  the  Himalayas,  to  the  Island 
of  Ceylon,  at  its  southern  extremity,  the  entire  peninsula  is  dotted  with 
medical  stations.  In  the  statistical  tables  to  appear  in  Vol.  III.  detailed 
returns  of  these  various  hospitals  and  dispensaries  will  be  given,  so  far 
as  the  author  succeeds  in  obtaining  them.  The  work  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  at  Amritsar,  in  the  Punjab,  in  charge  of  Dr.  Henry 
Martyn  Clark  and  Dr.  A.  H.  Browne,  and  that  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
ird Zenana  Missionary  Society,  in  the  same  city,  under  the  direction 
of  Miss  Hewlett  and  her  associates,  some  of  whom  have  received  a 
medical  training,  represents  the  largest  number  in  annual  treatments 
reported  from  any  single  mission  station  of  the  world.  The  united 
returns  of  these  two  societies  at  Amritsar  rose  in  1897  to  157,893, 


i    I      !   1 


1 4 


\\ 


i 


i 


I 


I 


i 


426 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


but  later  reports  give  116,997.  The  p«tient»  treated  annually  in  all 
these  hospitals  and  dispensaries  reach  a  total  of  many  hundred  thou- 
sands, as  may  be  inferred  from  the  facts  given  below.' 

The  American  Board  has  work  in  Ceylon,  conducted  on  Jaffna 
Island,  with  a  yearly  libt  of  6j86  treatments.  The  Woman's  AuxMiary 
of  the  Wesleyan  Mission  has  also  four  dispensaries  in  Ceylon,  the  chief 
one  being  at  Batticaloa.  Under  the  same  direction  is  the  Wiseman 
Hospital  and  Dispensary  at  Wellimada  in  Uva  Province.  The  returns 
from  these  sources  indicate  8347  annual  treatments. 

In  Burma  'he  American  Baptists  have  six  hospitals  and  eight  dis- 
pensaries, but  it  has  been  difficult  to  obtain  exact  returns  concerning 
them.  I'he  number  of  individual  patients,  so  for 
"ruS'i'n'Btrmi'ai"^  "  ascertained,  is  34,04a.  It  is  not  altogether 
»i«uy.i«.  and  th«      clear,  however,  that  some  of  these  returns  do  not 

p«cinci«undt.  represent  treatments  rather  than  patients,  and, 
if  this  is  so,  it  would  seem  to  be  a  fair  estimate  to  reckon  the 
total  of  treatments  as  about  50,000.  In  Northern  Siam,  among 
the  Laos  people,  the  American  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions (North)  suppt.-^ts  four  hospitals  and  six  dispensaries,  giving 

I  In  mentioning  centrei  of  medical  work  in  Indi«,  owing  to  limitations  of  space, 
those  only  are  given  which  report  15,000  or  more  annual  treatments.     They  are  aj 

foUowi : 

Statiow.  Society.  Tubatmintj. 

Sabathu P.  B.  F.  M.  N 15.000 

Codacal Ba.  M.  S i5,ojo 

AhmeUnagar A.  B.C.  F.  M 15.563 

Allahabad P.  B.  F.  M.  N 15.887 

Jammulamadugu L.  M.  S i6,jia 

Cherapoongee \V.  C.  M.  M.  S 16,225 

Krishnagar C.  E.  Z.  M.  S 16,905 

Dindigul A.  B.  C.  F.  M 17.709 

Lodiana S.  F.  E.  E 18,371 

Jhelum U.  P.  C.  N.  A ...18.613 

Bilaspur C.  W.  B.  M 20,075 

BareiUy M.  E.  M.  S 20,325 

Ferozepur P.  B.  F.  M.N 20,494 

Indore C.  P.  M 31.84" 

Quetta ^e^^^.  „       '''\''1\ «.78a 


C.  E.Z.  M.  S.      10,675  J  ' 

Batala C.  E.  Z.  M  S 24,003 

Lahore P.  B.  F.  M.N 24,960 

Calicut Ba.  M.  S 35.750 

Kalimpong C.  S.  M 26,077 

Agra E.  M.  M.  S 26,117 

Nasirabad ,U.  P.  C.  S.  M 36,561 


'   •    i 


NursitiK  ^taff  ,.f  Kaiscrswerth  Deacnnesses. 

The  Hospital  HuildiriK. 

<Me<)ual  fa,u!ty  i.f  Syrian  I'roicsiant  folleKe  In  attendance  a>  physi.i.ins  an.l  ,urKe..ns.i 

Thi    Iohanmtkr    Hom'mai.,    BuRi  t,    Syria. 


M 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


427 


nearly  aj.ooo  nnual  treatments.  In  Lower  Siam,  under  the  same 
Board,  are  a  hospital  and  three  dispensaries,  with  a  total  of  yearly 
treatments  reaching  4500.  In  Malaysia  the  American  Methodist 
Episcopal  Mission  has  medical  agencies  in  Singapore  and  Penang, 
and  the  Netherlands  Missionary  Society  has  a  large  hospital  and  dis- 
pensary at  Modjo-Warno,  in  Java,  where  26,624  yearly  treatments  are 
reported.  Among  the  Pacific  Islands  there  is  a  new  medical  service  at 
Ambrym,  in  the  New  Hebrides,  where  a  hospital  and  dispensary,  under 
the  care  of  Dr.  Lamb,  have  been  recently  opened  by  the  New  Hebrides 
Mission.  Among  the  Samoan  Islands  the  London  Missionary  Society 
conducted  an  important  dispensary  on  Savaii  for  many  years,  until,  in 
1895,  Dr.  Davies  retired.  Since  that  date  the  author  can  find  no 
record  of  its  continuance.  The  International  Medical  Missionary  and 
Benevolent  Association  has  its  medical  agents,  and  maintains  a  sani- 
tarium at  Apia.  This  society  has  also  established  similar  work  at 
Rarotonga,  and  has  another  sanitarium  at  Honolulu. 

In  the  Moslem  countries  of  Western  Asia— Arabia,  Persia,  Turkey, 
Syria,  and  Palestine— medical  missions  are  conducted  with  vigor,  and 
occupy  a  very  important  and  strategic  position  in  missionary  opera- 
tions.    In  Arabia  the  Reformed  Church  of  America  has  dispensaries  at 


(Continued  from  p.  436.) 


Station. 


Society. 


Treatments. 


Neemuch C, 

Nagpur F, 

Delhi 


P.  M..,. 

C.  S 

(  E.  B.  M.  S. 
\C  M.  D. 
Thana F.  C.  S 


16,794) 
12,411  J 


12,5681; 


Ranipettai Ref.  C.  A 

Sialkot <C.S.M. 

(  U.  P.  C.  N.  A. 

Ranaghat R.  M.  M , 

Tank C.  M.  S 

Lucknow Z.  B.  M.  M.  ... 

Srinagar   C.  M.  S 

Jodhpore U.  P.  C.  S.  M.  , 

Nazareth S.  P.  G 

Madura A.  B.  C.  F.  M. . 

Bannu C.  M.  S 

Udaipur U.  P.  C.  S.  M 

Neyoor  and  Branch  Dis- 
pensaries   

DeraGhazi  Khan C.  M.  S 

Ajmere U.  P.  C.  S.  M 

Amritsar $  C.  M.  S.  74.682) 

(C.E.Z.  M.  S.    43,31s  J 


i  I  .  M. 


..27,671 
. .  28,694 

..29,205 

..30.178 
..30,667 

•33.209 

■•35.589 
..38.527 
•  •38,607 
■  •  40,079 

.  4«.5" 
..45,260 
. .  48,670 
..52,167 
•55.331 
..61,763 

..62,963 
.83,622 

.116,997 


wr: 


11 


14,     I 


!:i2i.   :  i 


1 

j;    f 

1 

li 

1' 

ll 

428 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Busrah  and  Bahrein.    The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has  a  hospital  and 

dispensary  at  Sheikh  Othman,  near  Aden,  where,  according  to  a  late 

annual  report,  14,308  treatments  were  recorded. 

The  fame  of  the  million-  j^  Persia  the  American  Presbyterians  (North)  and 

ary  doctor  in  Arabia,       ,         y-,,  ,      , , .     .  -,       .  ,  ,,       . 

Periia,  and  Alia  Minor,  the  Church  Missionary  Society  have  effective 
medical  agencies.  The  Archbishop's  Mission  fails 
to  specify  any  medical  work  since  the  retirement  of  its  missionary 
physician  in  1897.  At  Julfa  the  Church  Missionary  Society  hospital 
and  dispensary  report  2 1 ,893  treatments,  with  also  a  separate  dispensary 
for  women  and  children,  giving  11,569  additional  treatments.  The 
Westminster  Hospital,  and  the  Howard  Annex  for  Women,  at  Urumiah, 
in  charge  of  the  Presbyterian  mi.ssionaries,  are  important  institutions, 
t'C  treatments  numbering  11,230.  The  Ferry  Hospital,  and  ^o  dis- 
pensaries, at  Teheran,  report  16,936,  and  the  Whipple  Hospital  and 
Dispensar)'  for  women,  and  the  dispensary  for  men,  at  Tabriz,  11,556 
as  their  annual  quota,  while  at  Hamadan,  under  the  same  society,  the 
missionary  physicians  give  12,356  as  the  number  representing  their 
yearly  visits. 

In  Asiatic  Turkey  the  medical  service  of  the  American  Board, 
conducted  at  Cesarea,  Marsovan,  Mardin,  Harpoot,  and  Van,  amounts 
to  an  annual  total  of  17,499  treatments.  The  Azariah  Smith  Hospital 
at  Aintab,  under  the  care  of  the  Central  Turkey  College,  with  Dr. 
Shepard  in  charge,  reported  last  year  over  4000  patients,  with  20,964 
separate  visits  for  treatment.  Dr.  Caroline  F.  Hamilton  and  Miss 
Trowbridge  devote  themselves  to  the  women's  department.  The 
Church  Missionary  Society  has  work  at  Baghdad,  and  the  Jewish 
Mission  Committee  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  conducts  the  Beacons- 
field  Memorial  Hospital  and  Dispensary  at  Smyrna,  now  (1899)  about 
to  be  considerably  enlarged  by  a  new  building,  and  by  the  addition  of 
a  training-class  for  nurses.  The  Friends'  Medical  Mission  among  the 
Armenians,  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  the  Kaiserswerth  Dea- 
conesses are  represented  in  Constantinople  by  hospitals  and  dispensaries. 

In  Syria  medical  work  is  scattered  over  a  large  area,  and  is  untler 
the  direction  of  various  missions.  The  Johanniter  Hospital  and  Dis- 
pensary at  Beirut  are  supported  by  the  Knights  of 
A  fine  medical  lervice  in  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Berlin.  They  are  in  charge 
Syria  and  Palestine,  of  the  excellent  Kaiserswerth  Deaconesses,  and 
served  by  the  able  Medical  Faculty  of  the  Syrian 
Protestant  College.  Dr.  George  E.  Post,  the  senior  member  of  the 
medical  staff,  has  labored  here  for  many  yiars,  with  professional  skill 
and  great  usefulness.  His  colleagues,  Drs.  Graham,  Adams,  Webster, 
and  Moore,  are  men  of  high  qualifications  both  as  instructors  and  as  prac- 


rrs 


3 


^1 


1  ;i 


•5  SI  '  { 


£ .    •'  i 


< 


;i:    ! 


i 

•^■if 

.«■ 

il 

« - 
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[Lgjji     ^^ 

I^H^^^^H 

i      9  ^ 

l-i 

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'■   ^  ^  ___^ 

I       '. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


429 


titioners.  Returns  for  1 898  give  the  number  of  patients  during  the  year 
as  1 2,360.  An  itinerating  dispensary  is  maintained  by  Dr.  Mary  Pierson 
Eddy,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  who  in  her  latest  annual  report 
stated  that  51  places  had  been  visited,  where  a  total  of  7070  treatments 
were  given.  The  patients  came  from  216  different  villages  in  Mount 
Lebanon  and  Syria.  At  Tripoli  Dr.  Harris  reports  7082  patients,  with 
a  list  of  524  surgical  cases.  The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
of  the  United  States  conducts  a  hospital  and  dispensary  at  Latakia, 
in  which  over  8000  treatments  were  given  in  1898.  They  have  medi- 
cal work  also  in  Larnaca,  Cyprus.  The  Reformed  Presbyterians  of 
Scotland  are  occupying  Antioch,  and  the  English  Presbyterians  are  at 
Aleppo.  The  British  Syrian  Mission  has  medical  work  at  Tyre  and 
Baalbec.  The  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  through  its  efficient  physician. 
Dr.  William  Carslaw,  administers  a  dispensary  at  Shweir.  The  Edin- 
burgh  Medical  Missionary  Society  has  stationed  Drs.  F.  I.  Mackinnon 
and  Brigstocke  at  Damascus,  where  10,000  treatments  are  reported 
in  connection  with  the  new  building  for  the  Victoria  Hospital  and 
Dispensary.  In  the  same  city  Dr.  Masterman,  of  the  London  Society 
for  the  Jews,  according  to  late  return;.,  attended  to  7092  cases.  The 
Friends'  Foreign  Missionary  Association  has  a  well-appointed  hospital 
and  dispensary  at  Brummana,  under  the  care  of  Drs.  B.  J.  and  A.  J. 
Manasseh,  with  6309  patients,  according  to  a  recent  report.  The 
Palestine  and  Lebanon  Nurses'  Mission  has  a  cottage  hospital  and 
dispensary  at  Baakleen.  Medical  work  as  a  matter  of  private  benevo- 
lence is  also  conducted  at  several  places. 

In  Palestine  quite  a  field  of  operations  for  medical  missions  is 
found.  The  London  Society  for  the  Jews  has  a  large  hospital  and 
dispensary  at  Jerusalem,  which  in  1896  recorded  33,722  treatments, 
and  has  also  stations  at  Hebron  and  Safed,  where  more  than  20,000 
prescriptions  are  furnished  yeariy.  The  Kaiserswerth  Deaconesses 
have  a  hospital  .ind  dispensary  in  Jerusalem,  with  5500  treatments. 
The  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  an  English  organization,  maintains 
the  British  Ophthalmic  Hospital,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Cant,  where 
skilful  ministrations  are  given  to  many  patients  suffering  from  painful 
diseases  of  the  eye.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  is  at  Ar.e, 
Nablus,  Gaza,  Kerak,  and  Salt,  and  the  sum  total  of  visits  reported  at 
these  stations  is  si;,o63.  The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  is  \X  Safed 
and  Tiberias,  where  its  physicians  during  the  year  1897  attended  to 
31,310  calls.  The  Mildmay  Mission  reports  from  Hebron  9064  treat- 
ments. The  list  of  visits  at  the  Jaffa  Medical  Mission,  according  to 
recent  returns,  is  10,256.  The  Edinburgh  Medical  Missionary  Societv 
has  work  at  Nazareth,  with  a  record  of  8000  treatments  annually,  and 


-4 


430 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


t 


the  American  Friends  at  Ramallah  have  some  5000  callers  at  their 
dispensary. 

Turning  now  to  Africa,  we  find  along  the  Mediterranean  coast 
the  North  African  Mission,  with  medical  stations  at  Fez,  Casablanca, 
Tangier,  Tetuan,  Tripoli,  and  Sousse,  representing 
The  medioi  invasion  of  ^  total  cf  28,665  ^nnu^l  treatments.    The  Mildmay 
Africa.  Mission  is  at  Tangier,  and  reports  2008  visits. 

The  Southern  and  also  the  Central  Morocco  Mis- 
sions have  gone  still  further  into  the  interior  of  this  fanatical  kingdom  with 
their  medical  forces.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  conducts  a  good 
scvice  at  Cairo.  It  is  ready  to  enter  Khartum,  but  as  yet  has  not 
received  the  Sirdar's  permission  to  establish  a  medical  mission  except 
at  Fashoda  and  vicinity.  On  the  West  Coast  its  stations  are  at  Abeo- 
kuta,  Ibadan,  Obusi,  and  Onitsha,  and  a  recent  entrance  has  been 
made  into  Hausaland.  On  the  East  Coast  it  has  either  its  hospitals 
or  dispensaries  at  Mombasa,  Mpwapwa,  Rabai,  Jilore,  Kisokwe, 
Luba's,  and  Mengo.  At  the  latter  place  ^^  first  hospital  in  Uganda 
was  opened  nineteen  centuries  after  Christ,  with  a  service  of  dedica- 
tion, on  May  31,  1897.  Without  undertaking  to  give  more  specialized 
data,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  efforts  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  in  these  various  stations  represent  a  sum  total  of  100,000 
treatments  annually. 

The  medical  services  of  the  numerous  societies  engaged  in  mis- 
sionary operations  in  Africa  are  far  too  extensive  to  mention  in  further 
detail.  Almost  every  section  of  the  Continent  where  there  is  foreign 
occupation  shares  in  the  advantages  of  these  benevolent  efforts.  The 
mere  enumeration  of  the  principal  societies  having  medical  agencies, 
in  addition  to  those  already  mentioned,  gives  an  impressive  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  this  enterprise.^  In  Egypt  are  the  United  Presbyterians 
of  America  and  the  Kaiserswerth  Deaconesses ;  in  Sierra  Leone  the 
United  Brethren  in  Christ ;  in  Liberia  the  American  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Mission,  and  the  Lutheran  General  Synod  (American).  On  the 
Gold  Coast  are  the  Basel  missionaries,  on  the  Slave  Coast  their  North 
German  brethren,  and  in  Old  Calabar  the  United  Presbyterians  of 
Sv.otland.  The  Qua  Iboe  Mission  is  on  the  river  of  the  same  name, 
just  west  of  Old  Calabar.  Within  the  French  possessions  north  of  the 
Congo  N  the  Gaboon  and  Corisco  Mission  of  the  American  Presbyterians. 
The  CongT  Free  State  is  occupied  by  the  American  and  English  Bap- 
tists, the  Southern  Presbyterians  of  the  United  States,  the  Congo 
Balolo,  and  the  Swedish  Missions,  and  in  Angola  is  the  American 

1  Cf.  Noble,  "The  ReJemption  of  Africa,"  pp.  551-561,  for  an  interesting  r6- 
sum6  of  medical  missions  in  Africa. 


their 

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Mcuical  Staff  ami  Students,   I  un^kun  Hnspital. 

Village  of  Tun^'kun  inear  Canton ■. 

Hospital  liuildinKS.  Tuni;kun. 

MiDlcu.    \N  t)RK    OF    iHi;    Rhinish    Mission    in    Soi  i  h    China. 


Ft  > 


THE  SOCtAl.  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS  431 

Board.  All  these  missions  give  more  or  less  attention  to  medical 
agencies.  In  the  eastern  section  of  the  Continent,  there  are  Swedish 
missionaries  in  Abyssinia,  and  in  German  territory  is  the  Evangelical  Mis- 
sionary  Society  of  German  East  Africa.  On  the  borders  of  Lake  Tan- 
ganyika are  stations  of  the  London  Mission.  In  Zanzibar  and  Pemba, 
and  from  thence  in  a  southwesteriy  direction  to  British  Central  Africa, 
is  the  Universities'  Mission,  which,  around  Lake  Nyassa  and  Lake 
Shir^,  unites  with  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  and  the  Church  of 
Scotland  in  the  occupation  of  British  Central  Africa.  In  this  vicinity 
is  the  Zambesi  Industrial  Mission,  to  which  Sir  Brampton  Gurdon  has 
presented  two  fully  equipped  hospitals,  as  an  expression  of  his  appre- 
ciation  of  the  value  of  the  service  it  is  rendering  to  that  part  of  Africa. 
The  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  has  opened  a  station 
at  Inhambane,  in  Portuguese  East  Africa.  The  Evangelical  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  Paris  has  just  sent  a  medical  man  with  Pastor  F. 
Coillard  on  his  return  to  labor  among  the  Barotsi.  We  find  also 
the  United  Presbyterians  of  Scotland,  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  the 
American  Board,  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  the 
South  African  General  Mission,  and  the  Swiss  Romande  Mission  in 
the  Transvaal,  all  engaged  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Continent. 
Medical  agencies  are  found  in  each  of  these  different  and  widely 
separated  missions. 

An  event  of  importance  in  the  medical  missionary  expansion  of 
South  Africa  was  the  opening,  July  15,  1898,  of  the  Victoria  Hospiul 
at   Lovedale.     This  beautiful  building,  costing 
;^4ooo,  is  virtually  a  gift  to  the  Foreign  Missions  xh.  newvictoru  ho- 
Committee  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  by      pit«i  at  Lovedaie. 
British  donors,  aided  by  local  subscribers  and  the 
Government  of  Cape  Colony.     Mr.  David  A.  Hunter,  an  honorary 
missionary,  has  been  active  in  securing  the  large  share  given  by  British 
contributors.     The  hospital  is  also  to  provide  the  facilities  for  training 
native  women  as  nurse:,,  and  young  men  in  ambulance  service.     The 
institution  has  been  put  in  charge  of  Dr.  M'Cash,  of  Glasgow,  and 
Miss  Wallace,  a  nurse  from  Guy's  Hospital,  London,  both  self-sup- 
porting missionaries,  and  highly  qualified  for  service  in  their  respective 
departments.     Sir  Gordon  Sprigg,  Prime  Minister  of  the  Colony,  offici- 
ated at  the  opening  ceremonies,  in  a  spirit  of  hearty  and  sympathetic 
appreciation  of  the  missionary  work  at  Lovedale.i 

In  the  Island  of  Madagascar  the  London  and  Norwegian  Societies 
and  the  English  Friends  have  established  superior  medical  facilities  at 

1  Tk,  Christian  Express,  August,  1898,  pp.  113,  117;  The  Free  Church  of  Scot, 
land  Monthly,  October,  1898,  p.  246. 


4M 


CHKISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PXOCItESS 


t  Ml-- 


i  vl     4 


considerable  expense.     Before  the  recent  military  campaign  by  the 

French,  seven  hospitals  and  ten  dispensaries  were  in  service,  in  which, 

according  to  a  conservative  estimate,  some  40,000 

A  word  about  Madm-    annual  treatments  were  given.     Unhappily,  the 

■•near  and  the  Wattarn   .         ,         .     ,  .  ... 

Hamtaphara.  ""C  hospital  at  Antananarivo  was  requisitioned 
by  the  French  authorities  in  1895,  also  the  one  at 
Isoavinandriano  was  taken,  and  that  at  Antsirabe  was  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1896.  Eight  new  dispensaries  have,  however,  been  recently 
opened,  concerning  which  only  very  imperfect  statistics  have  as  yet 
been  received.  On  the  South  American  Continent  and  in  Mexico 
this  department  of  effort  has  received  the  attention  which  the  societies 
endeavoring  to  meet  the  needs  of  these  vast  fields  have  been  able  to 
give.  The  South  American  Missionary  Society  among  the  Araucanian 
and  Chaco  Indians,  the  South  American  Evangelical  Mission  in  Uru- 
guay, the  Moravians  in  Surinam,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  in 
Mexico,  and  thai  of  the  Seventh-day  Adventists,  are  the  chief  factors 
in  the  fields  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  In  the  hospital  and  dispen- 
sary of  the  Methodist  Society  at  Guanajuato,  and  in  the  two  dispensaries 
at  Romita  and  Silao,  an  aggregate  of  7221  treatments  is  reported  in 
its  last  annual  statement. 

•  The  reader  who  has  pondered  these  impressive  statistics  cannot 
fail  to  discover  that  they  represent  services  of  incalculable  value  to  the 
world.  All  attempt  to  emphasize  or  enlarge  upon  this  point  will  be  in 
vain  in  the  case  of  one  who,  learning  these  facts,  has  not  already 
recognized  their  significance.  The  world  would  be  bereft  indeed  of 
an  immeasurable  consolation  if  medical  missions  should  cease  to 
minister  to  its  sufferings. 

These  efforts  for  the  relief  of  distress  have  wonderfully  quickened 

the  spirit  of  compassion  in  mission  lands  among  all  classes  of  people, 

and  have  inclined  them  to  treat  the  sick  and  in- 

Soma  banafieant  raauita  finn  with  more  kindly  consideration.     In  place  of 

in  nativa  aociaty.      the  neglect  and   harshness  so   often   exhibited 

towards  the  helpless  in  heathen  communities,  a 

disposition  to  minister  to  them  in  tenderness  has  been  awakened. 

Restoration  to  health  has  been  sought  for  those  who  heretofore  would 

have  been  left  to  be  the  victims  of  disease.     The  beneficent  results  cif 

thus  developing  the  spirit  of  kindliness  in  callous  hearts  are  revealed 

in  the  brighter  outlook  for  thousands  of  sufferers  who  are  now  helped 

in  their  misery  rather  than  doomed  by  their  misfortunes.     From  tlie 

West  Coast  of  Africa,  Dr.  R.  H.  Nassau  writes:  "  Neglect  of  the  sick 

is  verj'  much  modified.     Formeriy  even  the  relatives  of  the  insane  or 


THE  SOCIAL  HESULTS  OF  MISSWXS  ^'m 

of  those  afflicted  with  chronic  illness  would  fling  them  into  the  river  or 
sea.  I  hear  no  more  of  such  actions,  and  I  am  sure  the  change  is 
not  caused  by  fear  of  the  Government."  From  Rangoon,  Burma,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  N.  Gushing  speaks  especially  of  the  more  sympathetic 
treatment  of  the  poor  and  sick  brought  about  by  the  influence  of 
missions.  "  It  is  nowhere  more  conspicuous,"  he  writes,  "  than  in  the 
case  of  epidemics  or  contagious  diseases,  like  the  smallpox,  among  the 
mountain  peoples.  In  the  olden  times,  when  maladies  of  that  kind 
l)roke  out,  those  attacked  were  conveyed  to  solitary  places  in  the  jungle, 
and  abandoned.  This  is  much  rarer  now  than  formerly,  and  seems  to 
me  to  be  due  greatly  to  the  better  ideas  that  Christianity  has  nlanted 
in  the  communities  on  the  mountains."  The  Rev.  Robert  Evans  writes 
from  the  neighboring  country  of  Assam  of  the  blessings  that  missions 
have  brought  to  those  smitten  with  disease,  in  teaching  the  people  how 
to  care  for  them  and  save  them  from  the  results  of  neglect.  Native 
churches  in  different  fields  have  arranged  to  care  for  the  sick  and 
needy,  and  have  organized  .special  funds  for  that  purpose.  The  train- 
ing of  nurses,  especially  in  Japan  and  India,  has  provided  an  intelligent 
ministry  at  the  bedside  of  the  suffering,  where  hitherto  hopeless  incom- 
petency and  perilous  ignorance  held  sway.  The  example  of  mission- 
aries in  ignoring  all  distinctions  of  caste  or  sect  or  rank  in  the  hour  of 
helplessness  and  distress  has  taught  a  lesson  of  humanity  where  it  has 
been  greatly  needed.  Could  we  stand  by  the  sufferers  in  many  lands, 
and  ask  them  to  tell  us  of  the  blessings  which  missions  have  brought 
to  them  in  the  hour  of  illness,  we  should  hear  a  mighty  volume  of  tes- 
timony, the  smcerity  and  truthfulness  of  which  it  would  be  impossible 
to  doubt. 


12.  Founding  Leper  Asylu.ms  and  Colonies.— "The    lepers 
are  cleansed,"  was  a  sign  in  Christ's  day  (Matt,  xi,  5),  and  the  spir- 
itual healing  and  kindly  care  of  these  smitten  ones 
are  characteristic  of  the  ministry  of  Christianity  The Leproiy Conference 
in  modem  missions.  1    The  estimate  of  their  total    °' 'Klcfj.'^;;;'"'* 
number  in  the  world,  given  by  Miss  Kate  Mars- 
den,  as  reaching  1,300,000,  is  probably  below  the  true  figure.     Leprosy 
is  made  a  type  of  sin  in  the  Old  Testament,  representing  both  its  un- 

•  The  following  sources  of  information  are  available:  Bailey,  "A  Glimpse  at 
the  Indian  Mission  Field  and  Leper  Asylums  in  1886-87,"  and  "  The  Lepers  of 
Our  Indian  Empire:  A  Visit  to  Them  in  1890-91  ";  Carson,  "  The  Story  of  the 
Mission  to  Lepers  in  India  ■  ;  Annual  Reports  of  the  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India 
•nd  the  East ;  Without  the  Camp,  the  attractive  quarterly  organ  of  the  same  Mission ; 


I  !♦    '  ! 


K  • 


»!'       i' 


I.U 


ClfK/STiAX  A//SS/OA'S-  AXD  SOCIAL  rXOGKESS 


« leannf»8  and  it*  destructive  power.  In  recent  time*  some  new  light 
lias  been  thrown  upon  its  niysterious  genesis  and  the  processes  of  its 
resistless  development  when  once  established  in  the  system.  The 
l.c[>r<)sy  Conference  held  at  Berlin  in  October,  1897,  states  as  its  con- 
clusions that  the  disease  is  communicated  by  a  bacillus  which  enters 
the  organism  probably  through  the  mouth  or  the  mucous  membrane, 
and  that  it  attacks  only  mankind.  It  is  pronounced  contagious  but 
not  hereditary,  and  as  hitherto  n«  •  yielding  to  remedies.  The  above 
statement  as  to  its  contagiousni.  hould  not,  however,  be  understood 
as  implying  that  it  is  infectious  in  the  common  sense  of  that  word,  nor 
even  that  it  is  contagious  simply  through  touch  or  ordinary  conta«  t, 
but  rather  as  pointing  to  the  fart  that  the  reception  of  the  bacilli 
iiy  means  of  some  kind  of  inoculation,  as  through  a  wound  or  otherwise, 
or  their  entrance  into  the  system  by  the  mucous  membrane,  is  the 
usual  way  of  contracting  it.  This  limitation  is  required  if  we  are  to 
be  guided  by  the  exj.ericnce  of  multitudes  of  workers  and  attendants 
who  come  into  constant  touch  wit.,  lepers  in  homes  and  asylums  for 
long  periods  of  time,  often  dressing  the  wounds  day  after  day,  and  yet 
escape  all  contagion.  The  fact  that  leprosy  is  not  hereditary  seems  to 
be  well  supported,  as  the  children  of  lepers,  if  smitten,  receive  the  con- 
tagion, to  all  appearances,  through  intimate  contact  with  their  parents, 
and  not  through  the  chanr- J  r '  hysical  !i(  r?dity.  If  segregated  or 
reared  apart  from  their  parents  they  give  no  sign  of  the  disease.  The 
effort  to  establish  homes  for  the  untainted  children  of  lepers  is  there- 
fore a  <  harity  wliich  is  in  the  highest  degree  useful  and  encouraging.' 
An  elect  work,  in  ev;ry  way  admirable,  for  those  afflicted  with 
leprosy,  has  been  established  under  the  auspices  of  the  Mission  to 

Lepers  in  India  and  the  East,  having  its  office  in 

'^X?.f.t'';'„"Jr;  Edinburgh,  and  in  whose  behalf  Mr.  Wellesley  C. 

the  Eait.  Bailey,  the  founder  and  efficient   Secretary  and 

Superintendent,  has  long  labored  with  assiduous 
devotion.*     Mr.  Bailey,  who  was  originally  connected  with  the  Mission 

Marsiicn,  "  On  Sledge  and  Horseback  to  the  Outcast  Siberian  Lepers  ";  "  Report 
of  the  Lepro>y  Commission  in  India,  1890-91  "  ;  "  Report  of  the  Third  Decennial 
Missionary  Conference  Held  at  Bombay,  181J2-93,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  96-119;  Church  .f 
SiOlhmd  Home  and  Foreign  Mission  Kftord,  Oetober,  1895,  June,  1896,  Septenibrr, 
1897  ;  The  Missionaiy  Kr.u-o  of  the  World,  .May,  1897,  pp.  345-349,  »nd  May,  iStyS, 
PP'  33o-.^.?7;  Hoddcr,  "  Conquests  of  the  Cross,"  vol.  iii.,  pp.  499-510. 

'    Without  the  Camp,  January,  1898,  pp.  34,  35. 

*  Mission  to  Lepers  m  Indii.  and  the  East  (founded  1874),  Wellesley  C.  Bailey, 
f.sq..  Secretary  and  Superintendent,  17  Oreenhill  Place,  Edinburgh. 

Vvh'i.c  the  Mission  aims  tu  niuiislcr  to  the  physical  needs,  it  gives  special  attcn- 


tLr. 


m 


^1 


ii 


t  'ji  I 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


435 


of  the  American  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Punjab,  as  eariy  as  1 869 
had  his  attention  especially  drawn  to  the  condition  of  lepers  at  the 
Ambala  asylum  of  that  mission.  A  hearty  interest  in  the  victims  of  the 
J.-padful  malady  was  at  once  aroused  in  his  mind,  and  lie  soon  found  him- 
self conscious  of  a  clear  call  of  Providence  to  a  direct  service  on  their 
l-,ehalf,  r  c  uty  which  he  has  discharged  with  enthusiasm  and  success. 
He  labt  .'d  in  Ambala  for  a  time,  and  in  1874  visited  Great  Britain, 
wLer?'  he  awakened  the  desire  among  Christian  friends  to  organize  a 
special  work  for  this  neglected  class.  A  society  was  formed,  which 
has  been  generously  supported  from  the  outset.  It  has  grown  and 
flourished  and  wrought,  until  it  occupies  at  the  present  time  a  unique 
position  of  usefulness  among  the  beneficent  forces  of  missions. 

Its  plan  of  operations  is  independent,  and  at  the  same  time  coopera- 
tive.    It  has  its  own  institutions,  and  also  aids  other  missions  in  their 
work  for  lepers.     Prominent  missionary  societies, 
to  the  number  of  eighteen,  in  various  Eastern  it,  extensive  .nd  admir- 
fields,  are  in  alliance  with  it  in  its  chosen  sphere  "''•e  "">'''• 

of  effort.  Its  field  was  originally  confined  to 
India,  but  has  now  been  extended  to  include  Burma,  Ceylon,  China, 
and  Japan.  Its  stations  in  India,  Burma,  and  Ceylon  number  forty- 
two,  in  China  six,  and  in  Japan  two,  making  a  total  of  fifty.  In 
these  countries  twenty  asylums  or  hospitals  are  owned  by  the  Mission 
itself,  although  other  societies  share  in  the  expense  and  labor  of  con- 
ducting them.  In  addition,  there  are  eleven  institutions  for  'epers 
owned  by  various  societies,  towards  the  support  of  which  the  Mission 
to  Lepers  contributes.  Under  its  auspices  in  some  instances,  and  in 
others  under  the  direction  of  missionary  societies,  fourteen  homes  for 
the  untainted  children  of  lepers  have  been  estabhshed.  There  are  also 
places  where  provision  for  the  care  of  lepers  has  been  matle  either  by 
the  Government  or  through  private  benevolence,  in  which  opportunity 
has  been  given  to  agents  of  this  and  other  missionary  societies  to  im- 
part Christian  instruction,  an  aim  which  is  specially  prominent  not 
only  in  the  conduct  of  this  Mission,  but  in  the  work  of  all  societies,  as 
is  apparent  from  the  large  proportion  of  Christians  in  leper  institutions. 
The  total  number  of  inmates  in  the  institutions  of  the  Mission  to  Lepers, 
including  adults  and  children,  as  reported  in  Without  the  Camp,  Janu- 
ary, 1899,15  about  1500,  and  those  in  institutions  aided  by  it  equal  about 
1800,  making  a  total  of  3300  who  share  in  the  benefits  of  its  ministry. 
Of  this  number  1466  are  Christians,  of  whom  492  were  baptized  in  1897, 

tion  to  "  the  maintenance  of  Christian  instruction  and  worship  "  wherever  its  opera- 
tions extend. 


\.    ■■' 


h 


tiS: 


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436 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


The  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India  and  the  East,  although  occupying 
at  present  the  place  of  honor,  does  not  by  any  means  represent  the 
first  or  the  only  efforts  for  these  afHicted  ones. 
Earlier  efforti  on  behalf  Dr.  Carey  in  i8i2  witnessed  the  burning  of  a 
of  leperi.  leper,  and  was  so  impressed  by  the  need  of  some 

interposition  on  behalf  of  this  class  of  sufferers 
that  he  established  probably  the  first  leper  hospital  in  India.  It  was 
located  at  Calcutta. ^  The  Moravians  as  early  as  1822  were  at  work 
among  the  lepers  in  South  Africa,  especially  in  connection  with  a  gov- 
ernment asylum  founded  in  181 8,  which  was  afterwards  enlarged,  and 
in  1846  was  removed  to  Robben  Island,  not  far  from  Capetown.  This 
service  of  the  Moravians  ceased  upon  the  appointment  of  a  chaplain 
of  the  Church  of  England  in  1867.  In  Dutch  Guiana  they  are  also 
laboring  among  the  lepers  segregated  in  a  government  colony  at  Groot 
Chatillon.  They  have,  moreover,  a  beautiful  Home  for  Lepers  in 
Jerusalem.2  Many  prominent  agencies,  such  as  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  Church  of  Scotland,  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland 
the  Friends'  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  the  Wesleyan  Missionary 
Society,  the  Basel  and  the  Gossner  Missions,  the  American  Presbyterian, 
Baptist,  Methodist,  and  Congregational  Churches,  and  others,  also  share 
in  this  good  work. 

A  visit  to  these  various  homes,  asylums,  colonies,  and  hospitals,  we 
venture  to  say,  would  be  one  of  the  most  quickening  and  cheering 
missionary  lessons  which  could  be  given  to  Christian  people.  On  the 
other  hand,  an  inspection  of  the  dreadful  condition  of  those  helpless 
and  neglected  outcasts  who  are  still  unreached  in  their  isolation,  herded 
together  in  hovels,  where  no  charitable  hand  is  extended  to  aid  them, 
and  left  to  perish  by  a  living  death,  would  powerfully  impress  the 
humane  feelings  of  every  visitor.  The  benign  nature  of  the  work  done 
on  their  behalf  by  missions  would  be  all  the  more  strikingly  revealed 
in  contrast  with  their  desperate  misery  when  left  to  rot  away  in  their 
filthy  huts. 

India,  including  the  Native  States  and  dependencies,  contains, 
according  to  the  census  of  1891,  119,044  lepers.^  This  number, 
however,  is  considered  by  those  well  informed  on  the  subject  as  much 
lower  than  the  facts  would  justify.  The  officials  of  the  Mission  to 
Lepers  regard  500,000  as  not  too  high  an  estimate.     They  state  as  the 

1  Smith,  "  The  Life  of  William  Carey,"  p.  256. 

2  La  Trobe,  "  Work  among  Lepers  by  the  Moravian  Church." 

'  "  Report  of  the  Leprosy  Commission  in  India,  1890-91,"  p.  18a. 


we 


I 

I  i 


1       !i 


1  ill. 


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THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


437 


result  of  their  investigations  that  there  are  600,000  more  in  China  and 
200,000  in  Japan,  and  if  we  add  those  found  elsewhere  in  the  world, 
an  estimate  of  2,000,000  of  these  unfortunates 
would  not  seem  excessive.     We  may  visit  in  India    An  important  Mrviec 
many  scenes  of  acute  misery  among  the  lepers,  '"  '"""■• 

but  at  the  same  time  we  should  find  there  the  most 
extensive  efforts  for  the  mitigation  of  their  miseries.  When  Lord 
Lawrence  was  Viceroy  he  found  occasion  to  insist  upon  these  three 
precepts  in  his  government  of  the  Punjab :  "  Thou  shalt  not  burn  thy 
widow ;  thou  shalt  not  kill  thy  daughters ;  thou  shalt  not  bury  thy 
lepers." '  The  British  Government  has  provided  large  asylums  in 
some  of  the  prominent  centres,  as  Bombay,  Calcutta,  Madras,  Sahar- 
anpur,  Srinagar,  Trivandrum,  Rawal  Pindi,  Colombo,  and  else- 
where. In  these  institutions  full  opportunity  is  given  to  various 
missionary  societies  to  labor  for  the  spiritual  welfare  and  comfort  of 
the  inmates.  Asylums  controlled  and  supported  by  Christian  agen- 
cies are  scattered  throughout  India,  "  from  the  Himalayas  to  Cape 
Comorin." 

The  Gossner  Mission  at  Purulia  conducts  the  largest  work  for 
lepers  in  British  India,  the  buildings  being  owned  by  the  Mission  to 
Lepers,  which  also  contributes  liberally  towards  its 
support.  The  asylum  and  colony  combined,  under  The  largest  leper  asy- 
the  supervision  of  the  Rev.  H.  Uffmann,  contain  •«""  •«>  Britiah  India. 
545  inmates,  nearly  all  of  whom  are  Christians. 
Mr.  T.  A.  Bailey,  of  Poona,  a  brother  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Mission 
to  Lepers,  who,  in  1897,  paid  a  visit  to  Purulia  in  the  interests  of  the 
society,  reports  a  never-to-be-forgotten  scene  which  he  witnessed,  when 
61  of  the  lepers  were  baptized  one  Sabbath  morning.'  The  Gossner 
Mission  has  also  opened  another  asylum  at  Chandkuri,  with  65  inmates, 
and  the  Mission  to  Lepers  is  about  to  erect  for  them  a  new  building. 
At  Tarn  Taran,  in  the  Punjab,  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  through 
its  devoted  agent,  the  Rev.  E.  Guilford,  has  ministered  spiritually  since 
1882  in  the  municipal  asylum,  containing  i86  inmates,  of  whom  51 
are  Christians.  The  little  congregation  of  lepers  increased,  until  a 
church  building  became  a  necessity,  and  one  was  erected  for  their 
special  use.  At  Dehra  the  MacLaren  Asylum,  a  government  in- 
stitution aided  by  the  Mission  to  Lepers,  is  in  charge  of  a  superin- 
tendent who  is  interested  in  the  religious  welfare  of  its  inmates.  The 
Rev.  J.  F.  UUman,  a  Presbyterian  missionary,  had  the  spiritual  super- 

»  Smith,  "  The  Life  oi  William  Carey,"  p.  257. 
«  Without  the  Camp,  April,  1898,  p.  46. 


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438  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

vision  of  the  asylum  until  his  death  in  1896.     Out  of  135  lepers  withii 
its  doors,  55  are  Christians. 

One  of  the  oldest  asylums  in  India  is  that  at  Almora,  conductec 
since  1849  by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  the  scene  for  fort] 
years  of  the  loving  labors  of  the   Rev.  J.  H 
Other aiyiumi under    Budden.     It  has  132  inmates,  of  whom  109  an 
th.c.r.ofmi,.ion.ri...  Christians.      Provision  for  lepers  at  Almora  hac 
been  made  as  early  as  1840,  through  the  efforts 
of  Sir  Henry  Ramsay,  of  the  Indian  Civil  Service,  but  in  1849  the 
undertaking  was  committed  to  the  care  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society.     It  is  estimated  that  more  than  400  inmates  have  become 
Christians  during  their  stay  in  this  asylum.     At  Chandag  an  inter- 
esting work  is  conducted  by  the  American   Methodist   Episcopal 
Mission.     The  buildings  are  provided  by  the  Mission  to  Lepers,  and 
many  of  the  eighty-one  inmates  are  Christians.     Within  ten  miles  of 
its  location  there  are  500  lepers,  who,  as  far  as  possible,  are  ministered 
to  by  Miss  Mary  Reed,  the  missionary  in  charge.     At  Sabathu  the 
American  Presbyterians  have  another  institution,  with  8i  inmates,  39 
of  whom  are  Christians.    A  ward  for  Europeans  was  added  to  this 
asylum  in  1 896.     At  Ambala  the  same  society  has  conducted  a  work 
since  1855,  in  the  establishment  and  financial  support  of  which  General 
Sir  Hope  Grant  took  an  influential  part,  when,  as  a  colonel,  he  was 
stationed  there  in  that  year.     At  present  there  are  23  inmates,  every 
one  of  whom  is  a  Christian.     Lady  physicians  have  had  charge  of  the 
asylum  for  some  years,  and  it  is  now  directed  by  Dr.  Jessica  Carleton. 
The  American  Methodists  maintain  work  of  much  interest  at  Asansol, 
with  72  under  their  care,  30  of  whom  are  Christians.     At  Patpara, 
Mandla,  the  Missionary  Pence  Association  of  England,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  purposes  to  erect  the  Vic- 
toria Leper  Asylum  at  an  early  date,  through  the  proceeds  of  its  million- 
farthing  fund.     The  list  of  institutions  is  too  long  to  enumerate  in 
fuU.i     It  is  difficult  to  distinguish  always  with  precision  the  share  in 

1  The  following  are  in  addition  to  those  mentioned  above,  and  give  the  statistics 
of  some  other  stations  where  there  is  work  for  lepers.  In  almost  every  instance  finan- 
cial aid  is  provided  by  the  Mission  to  Lepers.  Still  other  stations  might  be  mentioned, 
but  full  details  cr  iceming  them  will  be  found  in  the  statistical  tables  in  Vol.  III. 

Stations.  Socibtv.  Immatbs.  Christians. 

Rm'BMJ W.  M.  S 74 43 

Bhagalpur C.  M.  S 67 13 

Poladpore M.  L 65 34 

Allahabad P.  B.  F.  M.  N 48.. .. !. ..  !!!!].7 

E"^^P°' K.C.I.H.M 48 !.s 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


431) 


these  benevolent  efforts  assumed  by  the  Mission  to  Lepers,  but  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  in  almost  every  case  there  is  financial  cooperation,  and 
in  many  places  the  buildings  are  provided  and  owned  by  that  society. 
A  beautiful  feature  of  this  ministry  to  leprous  parents  is  the  provision 
of  homes  for  their  untainted  children,  now  luade  at  many  stations,  in  al- 
most every  instance  wholly  or  in  part  svppoued  by 
the  Mission  to  Lepers.     There  is  no  doubt  a  pre-  *  beiutifui  charity  for 
disposition  in  the  offspring  of  lepers  to  contract    ""up"ou.p«'au.°' 
the  disease,  yet,  as  before  stated,  it  has  been  de- 
cided that  it  is  not  hereditary,  and  therefore  if  these  children  can 
be  segregated  and  kept  apart  from  their  parents,  there  is  reason  to 
hope  that  they  will  wholly  escape  the  dreaded  peril.     These  homes,  as 
the  number  of  converted  inmates  indicates,  are  places  of  Christian  nur- 
ture.   At  Purulia  the  Gossner  Mission  Home  has  70  untainted  children, 
all  of  whom  pre  Christians,  and  in  the  following  instances  also  every 
inmate  is  a  Christian:  Almora,  20;  Trivandrum,  22  ;  Tarn  Taran,  16  ; 
Neyoor,  6  ;  Raniganj,  5  ;  and  Asansol,  4.     There  are  other  asylums  at 
Chandkuri,  Poladpore,  and  Lohardugga,  concerning  which  the  returns 
in  this  particular  are  not  so  definite.     The  number  of  children  thus 
sheltered  in  the  homes  of  the  Mission  to  Lepers  is  205,  and  in  insti- 
tutions aided  by  it  81,  making  a  total  of  286. 

Missionary  work  among  lepers  involves  resolute  sacrifice  and  genuine 
heroism.      A  brave  heart,  unshrinking  hands,  tireless  patience,  and 
readiness  to  risk  all  in  this  unselfish  ministry,  are 
essential  in  one  who  would  undertake  the  service.   Service  on  the  heights, 
A  brief  chapter  frcir  the  life  of  a  devoted  worker     "  **•'  'R/eV  ""^ 
is  sufficient  to  make  this  clear.     In  North  India, 
on  the  southern  spurs  of  the  Himalayas,  is  Chandag,  the  home  of  Miss 
Mary  Reed,  of  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission.     She  is 


(Continued  from  p.  438.) 
STATION!.  Society.  Inmates. 

Neyoor L.  M.  S 46... 

Baba  Lakhan U.  P.  C.  N.  A 43 . . , 

Roorkee M.  E.  M.  S 36... 

Roha M.  L 

Patpara  (Mandia)  ....C.  M.  S 

Calient Ba.  M.  S 

Allepie C.  M.  S 

Hurda F.  C.  M.  S 22 . 

Lohardugga G.  M.  S 20. 

Dharmsala C.  M.  S 20. 

W«rdha F.  C.  S 16. 


•33- 
•32. 
.25 
.24. 


Chamba. 


Christians. 

il 

43 

28 

32 

3 

8 

9 

22 

.....14 

16 

16 


III 

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..C.  M.  S.. 


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440 


christian:  missions  axd  social  progress 


a  missionary  to  lepers,  and  lives  there  among  them  on  the  slopes  of  those 
eternal  hills,  in  pathetic  yet  cheerful  isolation,  happy  in  the  joy  of  her 
Master's  service.  Heronly  companion  in  her  modest  jome  on  Chandag 
Heights  is  a  leper  girl  sharing  her  cottage.  Within  is  every  sign  of  tasto 
and  refinement,  and  an  atmosphere  of  Christian  love  and  consecra- 
tion. Without  are  fragrant  flowers  scenting  the  mountain  air,  and 
scenes  of  lofty  grandeur  as  the  eye  rests  upon  the  snow-clad  peaks. 
A  few  friends  venture  to  visit  her  now  and  then,  but  the  reality  of  her 
isolation  appears  in  the  guest-tent  pitched  without  her  home,  and  the 
separate  table  at  which  she  eats  her  meals,  so  that  there  may  be  the 
least  possible  danger  from  contagion,  for  Miss  Reed  herself  is  a  leper.i 
Close  by  we  shall  find  the  sphere  of  her  labors  in  a  large  leper  colony, 
of  which  she  has  the  sole  charge.  The  quarters  for  the  women  are 
near  her  home ;  those  for  the  men  are  about  a  mile  away  down  the 
mountain.  The  land  which  has  been  set  apart  for  these  purposes 
includes  about  one  hundred  acres,  "  the  whole  side  of  the  mountain," 
and  here  she  has  the  oversight  of  an  asylum  consisting  of  separate 
homes  for  special  aspects  and  stages  of  the  disease,  a  dispensary,  a 
hospital,  and  a  chapel,  with  the  necessary  quarters  for  caretakers  ami 
attendants.    In  all,  8 1  lepers  are  under  her  supervision,  men,  women,  ami 

*  Dr.  Martha  A.  Sheldon,  of  the  Methodist  Mission  in  Bhot,  spent  the  Christ- 
mas of  1896  with  Miss  Reed,  and  wrote  an  interesting  account  of  her  visit,  which 
was  published  in  the  IVoman's  Missionary  Friend,  March,  1897,  and  also  in  Without 
the  Camp,  July,  1897.  The  following  extract  gives  a  glimpse  of  home  life  and  heart 
experience  on  Chandag  Heights:  "In  the  e fening  we  had  dinner  together ;  Miss 
Keed  sitting  at  her  little  table  with  separate  dishes,  and  I  at  another,  eating  chicken, 
curry  and  rice,  and  peaches  from  far-away  America.  We  talkrd  with  many  a  ripple  of 
laughter  as  we  enjoyed  our  meal  in  the  cozy  little  dining-room,  where  the  wood  fire 
burned  cheerily.  Then  what  an  evening  we  had  together!  There  were  heart  ex- 
periences to  tell,  difficulties  of  the  work  to  recount,  and  travails  of  soul  over  way- 
ward ones  to  relate.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation,  I  asked  Mary,  '  Do  you 
think  the  disease  is  making  any  progress  with  you?  '  She  said :  '  I  feel  that  it  will 
never  be  any  worse  for  others  to  bear  than  it  is  now,  yet  I  am  conscious  of  its  pres- 
ence within,  especially  during  the  last  few  months ;  but  I  feel  the  power  of  God  upon 
me  in  holding  me  quiet.  There  are  days,  too,  when  the  external  symptoms  are 
aggravated  and  more  noticeable.  Then  again  they  recede.  What  I  pass  through 
in  my  experiences  no  one  knows.  The  furnace  is  only  heated  a  little  hotter.  W  hat 
dross  there  must  have  been  in  my  nature! '  she  added.  *No,  Mary,'  said  I ;  '  it  it  all 
for  the  glory  of  God,  and  He  has  honored  yon  in  choosing  you  to  suffer  for  liin. 
and  to  show  His  keeping  power.  Not  you  only,  but  many,  many  are  blessed  with 
you.'  But  I  feel  deeply  that  so  far  as  human  help  is  concerned  she  is  walking  in 
the  furnace  alone,  and  that  there  is  only  One  who  can  enter  in  and  comfort  her. 
Later,  at  the  sweet-toned  organ,  the  gift  of  kind  friends  in  America,  we  sang  several 
hymns,  including  the  one  beginning,  '  Father,  whate'er  of  earthly  bliss  Thy  sover- 
eign will  denies,'  and  the  Giristmas  one,  '  Hark!  the  herald  angels  sing.' " 


Miss  Makv  kEtD,  Missiiinary  to  Lepers. 

(M.  E.  M.  S  ) 

The  H^.mi-    f  Mim  RecJ,  Chandui;  HciRhts. 

Skrvki;   on    thk    Hlu.his,    Ch.\m>a.,,    Indiv. 


THE  SOCtAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIO.WS 


441 


A  touching  narratlvt 

of  htr  consecration 

and  victory. 


children.  Of  this  number  64  are  Christians.  It  is  now  her  eighth 
year  of  happy  toil  in  this  scene  of  earthly  suffering,  where,  with  a  prayer- 
ful  heart  and  an  unfalterinc  step,  she  is  leading  a  company  of  Christ'* 
chosen  ones  through  great  tribulation  towards  the  heavenly  gates. 
How  It  all  came  about  is  a  strange  and  touching  story. 

Miss  Reed  was  born  in  Ohio,  in  1857,  and  in  .884  went  to  India 
as  a  missionary  of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
-Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  entered  upon 
/enana  work  at    Cawnpore.      In   1890   she  be- 
lame  conscious  of  a  strange  physical  disal)ility, 
and  tliinking  that  her  health  was  failing,  returned' 
to  America  on  a  furlough.     While  at  home  came  the  .Iread  suspicion 
and  subsequent  discovery  that  the  mysterious  malady  was  leprosy.     At 
first  the  agony  of  her  situation  was  overpowering,  but  she  wrestled  in 
prayer,  and  triumphed.     She  quickly  decided  to  give  her  life  to  work 
among  the  lepers  in  India,  and  her  thoughts  turned  to  Pithoragarh 
among  the  foot-hills  of  the  Himalayas,  at  the  base  of  Chandag  Heights' 
where  a  group  of  these  outcasts  lived,  in  whom  slie  h.id  aircadv  be.  <.me 
interested.     Her  convictions  as  to  the  nature  of  Iier  disea.se  were  con- 
firmed by  every  specialist  she  consulted.     She  kept  it  a  secret,  however 
from  father,  mother,  brothers,  and  sisters,  with   the  exception  of  one' 
sister,  and  returned  to  India  in  189,.     She  proceeded  to  Pithoragarh 
informing  her  friends  by  letter  of  her  purpose,  and  her  rea.son   for 
choosing  this  service.     Since  then  .she  has  conducted  her  wonderful 
work  at  Chandag,  and  has  built  up  an  institution  which  in  many  re- 
spects IS  a  model  of  order  and  well-arranged  facilities. 

Now,  after  seven  years,  comes  the  glad  announcement  that  there  is 
ground  for  hope  that  the  progress  of  the  disease  has  been  checked,  and 
that  eventually  .she  may  fullv  recover  her  health. 
Physicians  who  are  specialists  examined  her  in     oiad  tiding,  of  mi.. 
tne  spnng  of  1898,  and  although  they  could  not  R«<i»  returning  health, 
declare  her  entirely  free  from  the  virus,  yet  they 
pronounced  her  practically  cured  to  the  extent  that  the  disease  was 
regarded  in  her  case  as  incommunicable.     Later  tidings  seem  to  con- 
firm  the  hope  that  absolute  and  permanent  healing  has  been  given  by 
the  Great  Physician.     She  wrote  late  in  1898  as  follows :  "  I  have  di- 
vinely given  health,  and  there  is  no  cause  for  anxiety.     I  could  go  home 
without  jeopardizing  any  one,  and  I  look  so  well  that  none  need  fear."  1 
We  have  dwelt  in  detail  upon  Miss  Reed's  experience,  as  an  illus- 
tration of  the  supreme  consecration  involved  in  \^oxV  for  lepers.     There 
are  special  aspects  of  this  case  which  give  peculiar  beauty  and  pathos 

»  Woman's  Missionary  Friend,  January,  1899,  p.  236. 


443  C/fKlSTlAN  M/SS/O.VS  AXD  SOCIAL  mOGKUSS 

to  her  story,  but  there  are  matiy  others  among  Christian  mitsionArtes 
in  India  and  rise  where  who  ofTer  themselves  with  the  same  courage 
and  devotion  for  this  heroic  service  of  love. 

In   Burma  the  Home  for  Lepers  at  Mandalay,  f>iunded  by  the 
Rev.  A.  H.  BfStall  in   1H91,  and  soon  after  its  establishment  placed 
under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Winston,  j)f 
Efforn  for  Uo«r»  In     the  Weslcyan  Methodist  Mission,  is  the  first  insti- 
Burm*.  tution  of  its  kind  in  that  country.'    Mr.  Winston's 

ill  health  has  compelled  him  to  retire,  and  it  is 
now  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Rev.  A.  Woodward,  to  whom 
the  author  is  indebted  for  »he  photographs  illustrating  the  Home. 
There  are  1 14  inmates,  and  "  all  but  the  latest  comers  are  Christians." 
At  Singapore  Mrs.  F.  11.  Morgan,  an  American  Methodi.st  missionary, 
visits  a  company  of  lepers  who  have  been  segregated  by  the  Govern- 
ment. Her  compassionate  ministry  is  greatly  welcomed  by  these  suf- 
ferers.- At  I.aknv  n,  among  the  Laos  jieople,  the  native  Christians, 
aided  Ly  their  children  who  sold  the  contents  of  a  Christmas  box  to 
secure  some  benevolent  funds,  have  been  supporting  twenty  leper 
families.  Dr.  W.  A.  Hriggs,  a  medical  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Hoard  at  that  station,  has  informed  the  author  of  a  beautiful  custom 
which  has  been  adopted  by  the  native  members  of  that  church.  The 
communion  is  held  monthly,  and  at  every  preparatory  .service  a  collec- 
tion, not  always  of  money,  but  more  frequently  of  provisions,  is  taken 
for  the  aid  of  destitute  lepers  who  live  in  their  own  village,  not  f.ir 
away.  The  church  also  appoints  two  deaconesses  who  attend  to  the 
distribution  and  seek  to  do  some  spiritual  ministry  among  them. 
There  is  something  so  genuine,  so  true  to  the  instincts  of  Christian 
feeUng,  so  suggestive  of  the  "all  things  in  common"  spirit,  in  this 
plan,  that  it  seems  like  a  reproduction  among  simple  native  believers 
of  an  incident  from  the  early  history  of  the  Church. 

At  Pakhoi,  in  Southern  China,  the  Church  Missionary  Society  has 

one  of  the  finest  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  foreign  field.     It  is  a 

department  of  the  more  general  hospital,  but,  while 

in  the  same  compound,  is  quite  isolated.     It  was 

founded  in  1891,  and  is  the  largest  hospital  for 

lepers  in  China.     The  latest  report,  forwarded  to 

the  author  by  Dr.  E.  G.  Horder,  the  physician  in  charge,  givf    .he 

number  of  inmates  as  140,  of  whom   no  are  men,  and  30  women 

»   Work  an,i  IVorters  in  the  Mission  field,  July,  1895,  p.  270,  and  April,  1896, 
p.  166.     Cf.  Also  Winston,  "  Four  Years  in  Upper  Burma,"  pp.  251-266. 
2   T'le  Gospel  in  aii  Lamis,  September,  189S,  pp.  414,  415. 


Fine  institutions  in 
China. 


IP* 


Kev.  \V.  k.  Uin«t.,.n.  and  a  tlrnup  ..f  I  fper  (  hiidrcn. 

Women  I'afen.s.     Rev.  A.  Woolward.  Superintendent.  ,m  the  left. 

IH^ipensary,  Operating  Room,  Hospital  Wards,  and  thur,  h. 

The   Home  for   Lepers,    Mandaiav.    Birvx. 
av.  M.  S.) 


Iff 


t 

1 

^iyj. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


443 


and  children.     The  constant  attention  to  their  wounds,  involving  as  it 
does  about  18,000  separate  dressings  annually,  requires  a  routine  of  daily 
labor,  in  the  accomplishment  of  which  competent  lepers  have  been 
taught  to  assist,  as  will  be  seen  in  some  of  the  accompanying  illustra- 
tions.    There  are  other  asylums  and  hospitals,  notably  one  at  Hiau 
Kan,  not  far  from  Hankow,  under  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
which  was  opened  in  1895,  and  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in  Central 
China.     It  has  24  inmates,  all  of  whom  are  Christians.     A  large  in- 
stitution is  conducted  at  Hangchow  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
consisting  of  a  leper  asylum  for  men,  a  hospital  for  women,  and  a 
home  for  untainted  children,  with  also  a  convalescent  home.     The 
Mission  for  Lepers  shares  in  the  work  at  Hangchow,  as  also  at  Hiau 
Kan.     Drs.  Main  and  Kember  are  in  charge  at  Hangchow,  and  Mrs. 
Main  gives  special  attention  to  the  women.     In  all,  25  inmates  are 
reported,  of  whom  15  are  Chri.stians.     The  Church  Missionary  Society 
is  engaged  in  efforts  of  a  similar  character  at  Foochow,  Kien  Ning. 
Lo-Ngwong,  and  Kucheng.     At  the  latter  place  a  church  is  about 
to  be  erected,  and  it  is  proposed  to  establish  as  soon  as  possible  a 
home  for  untainted  children.      The  American   Methodist   Episcopal 
Mission  ministers  to  a  leper  village  at  Hinghua,  where  20  out  of  a 
group  of  50  have  become  Christians.     These  institutions  represent  but 
the  beginning  of  this  charitable  work  in  the  great  Empire  of  China, 
where  there  are  multitudes  .stricken  with  leprosy.     It  is  of  interest  to 
note  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Felix  R.  Erunot,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  have  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  missionary  society  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
(U.  S.  A.)  the  money  to  build  and  endow  a  leper  home  at  Nganking, 
on  the  Yang-tse  River. 

Mission  efforts  on  behalf  of  lepers  in  Japan  are  of  recent  origin. 
The  only  institutions  as  yet  founded  date  from  1894  and  1895.     The 
home  called   "  Ihaien,"   situated   at    Meguro,  a 
southern   suburb  of  Tokyo,  was   established  in      New  enterpri.e.  in 
1894,  by  Miss  Kate  M.  Youngman,  of  the  Ameri-       Japan  and  Korea, 
can  Presbyterian  Mission,  aided  by  the  Rev.  J.  C. 
Ballagh,  Mr.  S.  Ito,  and  Dr.  Otsuka,  who  is  the  present  manager, 
under  the  general  supervision  of  Miss  Youngman.     The  object  of  this 
home,  while  distinctly  evangelistic,  is  the  shelter  and  care  of  helpless 
outcasts.      The   Mission  to    Lepers  furnishes  a   grant   for  its  sup- 
port, and  it  reports  18  inmates,  6  of  whom  are  Christians.     A  new 
hospital  at  Kumamoto,  under  the  care  of  Miss  H.  Riddell  and  Miss 
G.  Nott,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  has  been  recently  opened, 
with  the  promise  of  great  usefulness.     According  to  the  latest  returns, 


t    * 


444 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


there  are  24  patients,  of  whom  10  are  Christians.*  In  Korea  no 
organized  work  has  been  attempted  as  yet,  but  Dr.  Vinton,  of  Seoul, 
writes :  "  It  is  expected  that  before  long  an  institution  for  the  recep- 
tion and  treatment  of  these  outcasts  will  be  established  in  Korea, 
through  the  cooperation  of  the  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India  and  the 
East."2 

Little  is  known  as  to  how  extensively  leprosy  prevails  in  Africa,  but 

judging  from  the  data  obtainable  from  those  sections  under  European 

supervision,  it  is   found  to  a  moderate  extent 

throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  Continent. 

The  lepcri  of  Africa.      ,_,.,.  .,        ,,. 

In  South  Africa  a  considerable  increase  m  the 
number  of  lepers  is  apparent.^  Segregation  laws 
were  enacted  by  the  Cape  Government,  and  put  into  operation  in  1 89 1 . 
The  result  has  been  a  large  accession  of  inmates  to  the  government 
colony  on  Robben  Island,  near  Capetown.  The  public  hospital, 
although  founded  much  earlier,  was  transferred  thither  in  1846,  and 
since  1867  a  chaplain  of  the  Church  of  England  has  been  maintained 
there  by  the  Cape  Government.  The  present  incumbent,  the  Rev. 
VV.  U.  Watkins,  is  eminently  fitted  in  every  way  for  the  position. 
The  colony  is  a  large  one,  numbering  in  1893  more  than  500  men, 
women,  and  children.*  This  service,  previous  to  the  appointment  of  a 
Church  of  England  chaplain,  was  performed,  as  before  stated,  by  the 
Moravian  missionaries,  who  entered  upon  it  in  1822,  when  the  asylum 
was  at  Hemel-en-Aarde.*  The  servants  of  the  same  society  are  also 
providing  for  these  outcasts  within  the  bounds  of  their  mission  north  of 
Lake  Nyassa,  where  the  disease  has  been  found  to  be  somewhat  prev- 
alent." Leper  work  is  reported  by  the  Hermannsburg  Mission  at 
Mosetla,  in  the  Transvaal.  The  government  asylum  at  Emjanyana, 
Kaffraria,  is  visited  by  the  Rev.  S.  J.  Wallis,  a  missionary  of  the  Scot- 
tish Episcopal  Church,  who  gives  some  encouraging  accounts  of  his 
efforts  to  instruct  the  inmates.  In  the  Island  of  Zanzibar  there  is  a 
leper  colony  near  Zanzibar  City,  where  Dr.  A.  H.  Spurrier,  a  resident 


•  "Annual  Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1898,"  p.  394;  The 
Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  August,  1898,  p.  583. 

•  The  Missionary  Rt-view  of  the  World,  September,  i8g8,  p.  671. 

'  The  Christian  Express,  May,  1895,  p.  66 ;  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer, 
September,  1895,  p.  698. 

«   The  Mission  Field  {S.  P.  G.),  October,  1897,  pp.  375-379. 

'  Bliss,  "  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  544,  545;  La  Trobe,  "Work 
among  Lepers  by  the  Moravian  Church,"  p.  11;  Noble,  "The  Redemption  of 
Africa,"  pp.  449-451. 

•  Periodical  Accounts  Relating  to  the  Moravian  Missions,  Dt'cember,  1897,  p.  390. 


=      ? 


e   jf 


z  .s 


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H   ^ 


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i    e 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


446 


English  layman,  renders  voluntary  service  as  a  superintendent  and  ad- 
viser. The  following  statement  indicates  the  peril  to  whic  h  these  poor 
creatures  are  subjected  if  left  without  some  guardianship  on  the  part 
of  missionaries  or  civil  authorities.  "  Only  think,"  writes  a  missionary 
lady  from  Zanzibar,  "  Dr.  O'SuIlivan  was  taking  care  of  a  leper  at 
Pemba,  but  had  to  come  to  Zanzibar,  and  when  he  returned,  to  his 
great  regret  he  found  that  the  people  had  buried  the  poor  man  alive, 
because  he  was  of  no  use.     It  is  time  the  lepers  had  some  friends."  i 

In  Madagascar  the  London  Missionary  Society,  through  two  of  its 
missionaries,  the  Rev.  A.  S.  Huckett  and  his  wife,  secured  in  1892 
funds  for  the  establishment  of  a  leper  settlement. 
It  is  located  upon  a  hill  named  Ilena,  about  four   "Village,  of  Hope  "in 
miles  from  Fianarantsoa,  and  was  opened  in  Feb-  MadagMc«r. 

ruary,  1895.  It  is  called  by  a  name  signifying 
"  Village  of  Hope."  Mrs.  Huckett  has  devoted  herself  to  this  kindly 
charity.  Thirty-seven  inmates  are  reported,  and  a  church  of  ten 
members.2  Still  another  institution  of  the  London  Missionary  Society 
is  at  Isoavina,  sheltering  25  inmates.  The  funds  for  its  establish- 
ment were  raised  by  the  Rev.  P.  G.  Peake,  who  erected  the  buildings 
in  1895.  It  is  his  purpose  not  to  charge  the  London  Missionary 
Society  with  its  support,  but  to  interest  the  native  church  in  assuming 
the  obligation.  The  Norwegian  Missionary  Society  has  provided  ex- 
cellent accommodations  for  lepers  at  Antsirabe,  consisting  of  a  leper 
colony,  with  forty  houses,  a  church,  and  a  hospital.  Three  hundred 
inmates  are  reported,  of  whom  two  hundred  are  Christians.  A  special 
building  is  about  to  bt  -ected  for  the  children  of  leprous  parents. 
Norwegian  deaconesses  aiu  m  this  work  of  mercy.  Still  another  asylum, 
under  the  care  of  the  same  society,  is  located  in  the  vicinity  of  Fiana- 
rantsoa, and  enrolls  30  inmates.  The  United  Norwegian  Lutheran 
Church  of  America  has  also  a  leper  home  and  an  orphan  asylum  on 
the  Island. 

The  French  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  have  rendered  a  sem'ce 
for  lepers  in  Madagascar  which  deserves  grateful  recognition.  At  least 
two  hospitals  are  spoken  of  in  connection  with  their  mission.  They 
have  also  a  leper  home  at  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  where  Dominican 
nuns  are  the  nurses,  and  again  at  Mandalay,  where  Father  Johann 
Wehinger,  who  has  been  named  the  Father  Damien  of  Burma,  has 
charge  of  St.  John's  Leper  Asylum. 

1  African  Tidings,  February,  1898,  p.  19. 

*  *'  Report  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  1897,"  p.  167;   The  Chronide, 
July,  1895,  p.  182,  «nd  August,  1898,  p.  202. 


446 


CHRISTIAN  A//SSIOXS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


The  lepers  of  Motokai. 


In  Palestine  the  beautiful  leper  home  in  charge  of  the  Moravians 
at  Jerusalem,  founded  in  1867,  and  called  "Jesus  Hilfe,"  is  not  only- 
one  of  the  ornaments  of  the  city,  but  also  a  monu- 
The  Moravian  Asylum   mcnt  of  Christian  charity  in  the  land  where  our 
•t  Jerusalem.         Saviour  once  healed  the  sick.     The  late  Bishop 
La  Trobe,  of  the  Moravian  Church,  who  died  in 
1897,  in  his  ninety-fifth  year,  labored  for  the  establishment  and  pros- 
perity  of  this  institution,  which  was  the  pride  and  joy  of  his  old  age. 
Since  1891  it  has  been  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schubert. 
At  the  close  of  1897,  29  inmates  were  reported.* 

In  acquiring  the  Hawaiian  Islands  the  United  States  Government 
added  over  a  thousand  lepers  to  its  dependent  classes.  They  are  seg- 
regated on  the  Island  of  Molokai,  the  scene 
of  Father  Damien's  sacrificing  efforts  for  the  relief 
of  their  miseries.  The  Hawaiian  Government  has 
been  accustomed  to  appropriate  over  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars  annually  for  their  support.  Our  American  adminis- 
tration will  surely  care  for  these  helpless  wards,  and  the  Christian 
Church  will  not  fail  to  provide  for  them  the  spiritual  privileges  and 
consolations  of  the  Gospel.  After  the  death  of  Father  Joseph  Damien, 
who  labored  among  them  for  some  twenty  years,  and  was  himself  finally 
smitten  with  the  disease,  dying,  in  1889,  a  victim  to  its  ravages,  his 
brother  Pamphile,  accompanied  by  a  band  of  priests  and  nuns,  took 
up  the  work,  aiding  Father  Damien's  surviving  comrade,  Josei)h 
Button.  Protestant  missionary  work  among  them  has  also  been  con- 
ducted, under  the  auspices  of  the  Hawaiian  Evangelical  Association, 
which  has  established  a  church,  with  a  stated  pastor,  a  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  a  Sunday-school,  a  gymnasium,  and  a  reading- 
room.2  Still  another  leper  colony  which  is  maintained  by  the  Mela- 
nesian  Mission,  is  situated  in  the  Banks  Islands,  but  further  particulars 
concerning  it  are  wanting. 

An  encouraging  and  from  a  social  point  of  view  important  aspect 
of  the  efforts  on  behalf  of  lepers,  is  the  prospect  that  native  philanthropy 
will  be  stimulated  and  directed  into  this  channel,  so  that  a  disposition 
to  treat  them  kindly  and  provide  for  their  needs  will  take  the  place  of 
previous  neglect.  In  India  the  comer-stone  of  a  leper  hospital  has  re- 
cently been  laid  by  the  Maharajah  of  Kolhapur,  and  the  Maharajah  of 
Kashmir  has  just  placed  the  leper  asylum  at  Srinagar  under  the  care 

1  Periodical  Accounts  Relating  to  Moravian  Missions,  June,  1898,  p.  503. 
*  See  article  by  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,   on  "The   Leper  Island  of 
Molokai,"  in  rhe  Independent,  .August  a6,  1897. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULT!-  OF  MISSIONS 


447 


of  Dr.  Neve,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Incidents  like  these 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  there  is  hope  that  more  active  sympathy 
in  regard  to  lepers  will  be  quickened  among  native  residents  in  foreign 
lands. 


■P*< 


13.  Establishing  Orphan  Asylums.— In  times  of  special  calam- 
ity and  suffenng  in  mission  fields  there  are  multitudes  of  children  who 
are  bereft  or  deserted  or  thrust  into  some  sudden 
peri!  of  body  or  soul.     The  care  of  these  defense-  xht  .ppeai  of  imperJUed 
less  little  ones,  who  in  most  instances  are  orphans,  childhood, 

represents  a  department  of  mission  activity  which 
is  most  attractive  and  hopeful.  The  impulse  which  prompts  to  these 
efforts  is  both  evangelical  and  humanitarian,  and  the  result  is  nota- 
ble for  its  spiritual  fruitage  and  also  for  its  ultimate  advantage  to  so- 
ciety. Unprotected  children  are  peculiarly  exposed  in  an  atmosphere 
of  heathen  vice,  and  easily  become  the  victims  of  sinister  designs,  or 
are  entrapped  for  evil  purposes.  It  is  wholly  congenial  to  the  spirit 
of  missions,  and  in  accord  with  its  highest  aims,  to  rescue  the  young 
from  moral  peril  and  physical  distreos,  and  gather  them  into  homes  of 
Christian  training.  Their  circumstances  are  often  so  pitiful,  and  their 
situation  so  agonizing  in  its  helplessness  and  misery,  that  missionaries  are 
compelled  by  every  instinct  of  humanity  and  every  impulse  of  Christian 
sympathy  to  assume  responsibilities  which  more  than  tax  their  resources. 
Many  an  orphanage  in  mission  lands  has  been  created  by  the  mandate 
of  necessity,  and  is  conducted  in  response  to  an  imperative  call  of 
Providence. 

In  the   Turkish    Empire   such   an   emergency  recently  arose  in 
connection  with  the  Armenian  massacres  of  1894-95,  which  desolated 
hundreds   of   families,   and   left    many   helpless 
orphans.     Missionaries  have  gathered  such  into   The  recent  emergency 
homes  and  asylums,  where  they  are  trained  under        '°  *•'»  Minor. 
Christian  instruction  to  be  of  service  to  their  gen- 
eration.    Throngs  of  children,  homeless  and  friendless  because  de- 
prived of  their  natural  protectors,  have  thus  been  thrown  upon  the 
kindly  ministries  of  those  who,  with  brave  hearts  and  willing  hands, 
shared  with  their  native  friends  the  perils  of  t'lat  cyclone  of  horrors 
which  lately  swept  over  Asia  Minor.     It  is  not  an  exaggerated  esti- 
mate to  state  the  number  of  children  who  were  cast,  in  a  condition  of 
almost  total  dependence,  upon  the  charity  and  care  of  mission  agencies, 
as  fully  50,000,  and  of  this  number  some  10,000  had  been  suddenly 


f'l"^ 


148 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


% 


orphaned.  Everything  possible  has  been  done  by  the  missionaries, 
supported  by  the  beneficent  gifts  of  Christendom,  to  meet  this  emer- 
gency, yet  so  extensive  was  the  need  that  much  was  of  necessity  left 
undone,  or  accomplished  only  in  part.  Through  the  aid,  however,  of 
American,  British,  Swiss,  and  German  Christians,  the  goodly  number 
of  4000  little  orphans  are  now  under  permanent  watch  and  guardian- 
ship in  the  various  asylums  which  have  been  planted  in  almost  every 
centre  of  American  mission  work  in  Asia  Minor.^ 

At  Van,  under  the  care  of  Dr.  G.  C.  Raynolds,  there  are  some  300 

orphans,  while  an  additional  400  are  provided  for  in  stations  not  far 

away.     At  Sivas,  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Hubbard,  are 

MUiionary  protection   fiye  places  of  refuge,  with  two  in  neighboring  vil- 

■nd  iheltcr  for  bereft     ,  ,.        .„„,.,.,         _,, 

children.  l^gcs,  accommodating  m  all  280  uttle  waifs.     The 

Swiss  Committee,  presided  over  by  Professor  Godet, 
of  Neuchdtel,  renders  special  aid  at  this  station.  Five  times  as 
many  orphans  might  have  been  taken  had  circumstances  permitted. 
At  Marash,  where  Mrs.  Lee  was  in  charge,  over  200  were  gathered,  and 
four  other  homes  were  opened  under  different  auspices.  At  Harpoot, 
under  the  motherly  care  of  Mrs.  Bamum,  aided  by  Miss  Hattie  Sey- 
mour, there  is  another  flock  of  220  little  ones,  and  a  similar  band  has 
been  gathered  at  Choonkoosh,  up  in  the  neighboring  mountains  of 
Kurdistan.  Other  new  homes  have  been  opened  in  Harpoot,  until  seven 
orphanages  are  now  reported  in  the  city,  and  four  more  not  far  away, 
while  an  aggregate  of  nearly  600  little  ones  are  cared  for  at  out-stations 
in  the  Harpoot  field. 

At  Urfa  Miss  Corinna  Shattuck,  with  Miss  E.  M.  Chambers  as 
her  associate,  gathered  around  her  a  group  which  numbered  256.  A 
German  orphanage,  supported  by  a  fund  raised  and  dispensed  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Lepsius,  has  also  been  established  in  this  place,  with 
250  inmates.  At  Bitlis  the  Misses  Ely  have  been  caring  for  100 
children.  At  Hadjin  Mrs.  Coffing  has  had  charge  of  100  more.  At 
Brousa  an  orphanage  has  been  conducted  since  1875,  and  a  branch  has 
recently  been  opened  at  West  Brousa  for  the  Armenian  orphans, 
both  of  which  are  under  the  supervision  of  a  native  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Gregory  Baghdasarian.  In  addition  the  United  Swiss  Committee  has 
an  institution  at  West  Brousa.  At  Aintab  the  asylum  of  the 
American  Board  has  75  inmates,  and  since  1876  the  Rev.  H.  Hov- 
hanessian  has  conducted  a  native  orphanage,  enrolling  at  present  256 

•  The  Missionary  Herald,  December,  1897,  pp.  $01-503,  May,  1898,  pp.  204- 
208;  Life  and  Light,  March,  1897,  pp.  107-109;  Evangelical  Christendom,  1xi?j, 
1898,  p.  209;  The  Mission  World,  January,  1897,  p.  23. 


I 


S 
i 

y 


7.       I     Z 


I 
35 


i\ 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


449 


Inmates.  The  "  Friends  of  Armenia,"  in  England,  The  Congregation, 
alist  of  Boston,  TTie  Christian  Herald  of  New  York  City,  the  Red 
Cross  Society,  and  other  philanthropic  agencies  have  aided  gener- 
ously, by  means  of  special  subscriptions  secured  through  their  solicita- 
tions,  in  caring  for  hundreds  of  the  Armenian  orphans.  Other  stations 
where  this  good  work  goes  on  under  direct  missionary  supervision  are 
Mardin,  Diarbekir,  Erzerum,  Zeitun,  Bardezag,  Malatia,  Marsovan, 
Cesarea,  and  Smyrna.  At  the  latter  place  the  Kaiserswerth  Deacon- 
esses have  a  large  orphan  home,  with  lao  inmates,  and  the  American 
German  Baptist  Brethren  another,  with  25  in  their  care.  At  Constanti- 
nople also  the  Relief  Committee  of  Frankfort-on-the-Rhine  supports  an 
asylum  with  50  inmates. 

South  of  Asia  Minor,  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  we  find  at  Beirut  such 
noble  institutions  as  the  Zoar  Orphanage  of  the  Kaiserswerth  Dea- 
conesses,  and  the  St.   George's  Orphanage,  the 
latter  in  charge  of  Miss  Taylor.     These  are  for      orph.„  ho™..  .„ 
giris,  the  former  with  130  inmates,  and  the  latter     ■y'»« 'od  p«i..tin.. 
with  67.     There  is  an  industrial  school  for  orphan 
boys  at  Sidon,  under  the  supervision  of  Dr.  George  A.  Ford,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission.     At  Nazareth  the  Society  for  Promoting  Female 
Education  in  the  East  has  a  fine  institution,  founded  in  1870,  in  which 
are  75  inmates,  and  in  Jerusalem  the  Kaiserswerth  Deaconesses  are 
rendering  faithful  service  in  the  Talitha  Kumi  Orphanage,  with  a  roll 
at  present  numbering  1 1 5  beneficiaries.     The  Bishop  Gobat  Memorial 
School,  as  it  is  now  called,  was  originally  opened  by  the  good  Bishop 
as  an  orphanage  upon  Mount  Zion.     Its  scope,  however,  under  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  has  been  enlarged  into  an  educational 
mstitution.     In   Persia  a  large  orphan  asylum  has  been  established 
smce  1880  at  Geogtapa,  near  Urumiah,  in  charge  of  a  native  Protes- 
tant known  as  Deacon  Abraham,  and  is  supported  by  Christian  friends 
m  England.     It  has  now  60  inmates,  and  since  it  was  founded  over 
300  orphans  have  gone  out  from  its  shelter  trained  for  usefulness. 

In  India  efforts  on  behalf  of  this  special  class  have  assumed  un- 
wonted proportions.     The  roll-call  of  mission  institutions  in  1898  ex- 
tended to  1 24  orphanages  or  homes,  with  an  ag- 
gregate of  about  8000  children  gathered  within      „ob..  .„..i,utio„. 
theu-  doors.     Of  all  foreign  fields  India  surely  in  indu. 

stands  in  the  front  rank  in  respect  to  the  extent 
and  excellence  of  work  in  this  department.^    This  is  no  doubt  due  in 
large  measure  to  the  calamities  which  periodically  sweep  over  the 

1   Woman's  Missionary  Friend,  October,  1897,  p.  91. 


450  CliA'tSr/A.V  .U/SS/OXS  A\D  HOC/AL   PKOGkESS 

country.  Famines,  plagues,  pestilences,  and  the  ever-present  woes  of 
poverty  have  brouglu  multitudt-g  of  children  into  a  condition  of  help- 
less want.  In  the  early  ilays  of  miswon,  to  India  not  a  few  little  ones 
among  the  cruel  and  superstitious  Khonds  w»;re  snatched  from  the  peril 
of  lingering  death  as  living  sacrifices.'  Kvery  great  famine  has  left  a 
heritage  of  peri^^hing  orphans  to  the  care  of  the  missionaries,  who  have 
received  them  literally  by  the  hundreds,  and  out  of  such  experiences 
have  grown  many  benevolent  institutions. 

The  famine  visitation  of  1896-97  filled  to  overflowing  every  exist- 
ing orjihanage,  and  necessitated  the  opening  of  many  new  ones.     The 
Rev.  and  Mrs,  J.  O.  Denning,  of  Narsinghpur,  res- 
'"rinTt'VuZV*'  ^"'^^   700    children,    nearly   all   of   whom   were 
of  lise-g;.  orphans,  distributmg  many  of  them  in  various  mis- 

sion schools.'  The  Friends'  Foreign  Missionary 
Association  (British),  in  its  report  for  1898  (p.  ^^),  states  that  it  has 
gathered  500  children  into  orphanages  at  Seoni  and  Sohagpur,  which 
with  its  two  asylums  at  Hoshangabad,  having  317  inmates,  makes  a 
sum  total  of  8 1 7  at  present  under  its  care.  The  recent  famine  harvest 
of  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal  missionaries  is  over  2000  orphan 

>  "  Year  by  year  thousands  of  children  were  ruthlessly  stolen  from  their  native 
villages,  and  sold  to  the  wild  Khonds.  Fattened  by  them  for  slaughter,  they  were 
brought  out  on  the  day  of  sacrifice,  and  the  livid  flesh  was  cut  piece  by  piece  from 
the  s  uflering  victim,  and  presented  as  a  propitiatory  offering  to  the  earth-spirit.  M  cm 
abandcmed  to  p.iroxysins  of  emotion  accompanied  the  bloo<ly  rite  with  music  and 
song,  saying  to  the  victim :  '  We  have  bought  you  with  a  price,  and  it  it  therefore 
no  sin  to  offer  you  to  the  goddess ' ;  and  addressing  the  Khond  deity  with  the 
invocation  ■ 

'  Hail,  mother,  hail!  hail,  Goddess  Bhobaneel 

Lo!  we  present  a  sacrifice  to  thee; 

Partake  thereof,  and  let  it  pleasure  give, 

And  in  return  let  us  thy  grace  receive.' 

"Jesus  Christ  stil!  '  seeks  and  saves  that  which  is  lost,'  and  in  the  spirit  of  His 
Palestine  mission  st/ks  first  that  tvhich  is  most  lost.  He  is  the  Deliverer  of  the  op- 
pressed.  He  sets  at  liberty  them  that  are  appointed  unto  death.  Swaye<l  by  His 
indwelling,  and  guided  by  His  Spirit,  the  Orphan  Asylum  [at  Cuttack,  Orissa]  was 
established  as  early  as  1836,  and  six  boys  and  three  girls  who  had  been  '  decreed  for 
sacrifice,'  but  were  rescued  from  their  deluded  murderers,  found  a  new  home  and 
new  parents  within  its  walls.  And  before  the  efforts  of  Government  to  suppress 
these  cruel  practices  were  crowned  with  success,  not  less  than  seventeen  hundred 
victims  were  rescued,  and  at  least  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  had  the  advantages 
of  our  schools."-"  The  Centenary  Volume  of  the  Baptist  .Missionary  Society,  1792- 
1892,"  pp.  258,  259.  Cf.  also  Lyall,  "  Natural  Religion  in  India,"  p.  46;  Sutton, 
"Orissa,"  p.  229;  The  Indian  Evangelical  Rninv,  October,  1897,  pp.  190,  191. 
2   The  Missionary  Rcjinv  of  the  World,  April,  1898,  p.  395. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  A//SS/OXS 


401 


children.*  Their  work  in  thi.*  'tment  i>  exceptional  in  its  extent. 
Their  orphanage  at  Aligarh  ha  .imates,  of  whom  aoo  arc  girls ;  at 

Bareiily  they  report  350  girls;  at  Ailahabad,  in  their  two  ori)hanagc», 
are  J75;  at  Poona,  j6a ;  at  Narsinghpur,  250;  at  Jabalpiir,  J15;  at 
Shahjehanpur,  175.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  reports  in  its 
institution  at  Patpara,  aoo;  at  Gorakhpur,  140;  at  Clarkabail,  133; 
at  Sharanpti',  1 1  a  ;  at  Benares,  1 13.  The  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  has  two  orphanages  at  Cawnpore,  with  840  inmates, 
and  the  London  Missionary  Society  one  at  Mirzapur,  with  130.  The 
Basel  Missionary  Society  has  179  in  its  asylum  at  Udipi,  and  173  at 
Chombale.  The  American  Reformed  Episcopal  Mission,  in  its  institu- 
tion at  Lalitpur,  shelters  140  children.  At  Jabalpur  the  Wesleyan  Mis- 
sionary Society  has  two  orphanages,  with  132  inmates.  The  efforts  of 
the  Christian  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  resulted  in  the  rescue  of  750 
children,  many  of  whom  were  retained  in  its  asylum  at  Mahoba.  The 
list  is  too  long  to  enumerate  further.  Several  additional  institutions 
appear  in  a  foot-note.* 

>  Tht  Harvtst  FitU,  November,  1897,  p.  433. 

>  The  following  list  includes  only  institutions  reporting  more  than  fifty  inmates. 
In  the  statistical  tables  of  VoL  III.,  fuller  details  will  be  recorded. 


Location.  Socutv. 

Pakur M.  E.  M.  S. 

Saugor S.  E.  N.  S.  . 


Inmates. 
..    110 
..    1 10 


Almora L.  M.  S , 

Mahoba C.  W.  B.  M 

Borsad P.  C.  I.  M.  S.  . . 

Agarpara C.  M.  S 

Fategarh P.  B.  F.  M.  N. . 


Calcutta 

Saharanpnr P.  B.  F.  M.  N 

Anand P.  C.  I.  M.  .S. 

Codacal  (Paraperi) Ba.  M.  S 


107 
106 
105 

>03 
102 


W.  U.  M.  S 100 

9a 

89 

88 


Cnttack E.  B.  M.S. 

ar F.  C.  S. .  . , 


84 

81 

79 

77 

76 

71 

70 

70 

70 

Bilaspur C.  \V.  B.  M 69 

Raniganj W.  M.  S 68 

Madras M.  E.  M.  S 66 

Kotageri Ba.  M.  S 66 


Nagpur 

Pithoragarh M.  E.  M.  S.  . . 

Sura*.    P.  C.  I.  M.  S. . 

Damoh F.  C.  M.  S 

Chikaldl K.  C.  I.  H.  M. 

Mungeli F.  C.  M.  S 

Dharwar Ba.  M.  S 

Roorkee S.  P.  G 


\ 


^      Id 


I 


452  CHJilSTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PKOGIiESS 

In  many  instances  industrial  training  in  various  trades  is  riven 

The  ch.ldren  are  educated  to  be  skilled  workmen,  and  are  enabSd  to 

support  themselves  when  older,  thus  becoming  in- 

Succewful  training  In    dustriOUS  members  of  SOcietv      Pr«n,T     1-.         X. 

v.riou.  induitruV      p    »r   u  ""» o^  society.    l-rom  LahtpuT  Mrs. 

EM.  Bacon  writes  that  the  weaving  of  cotton 

ture,  and  m  this  the  giris  do  such  excellent  work  that  "  th.  H 
IS  neipea,  and  the  chronic  poverty  of  the  riiWcf,,«  <■       r     • 

a  dairv  tjm  if,.,!    T         ^'^''''^'"S  is  taught  to  blind  lads,  and 
.en  nndertaken  to  the  e„ent  oAbou.  eS,.";*  .T  S  ^  Id^  Tbu? 

S    d  nurs  r^^;^^^^  ""'^^^ '°  ^-°™^  Bible-women  and 

sMiied  nurses.     The  social  benefits  of  this  combination  of  Christian  and 

r"?theVZe;a^  "''^t'  '°""  "P°"  ^'^^  ^^'^"^''-  P^^--.  ^nd   o 
Peru!  .  ^  ?  '"  ''""'''  ""'^  P^°'''^^'"-^  occupations, 

.nn  rr.        '    ?'*  """"''"  ^°  ^°^^  f°'  o'Th-ns  in  Japan,  for  the  rea 
son  that  It  IS  so  largely  conducted  by  native  Christiins.     The  earlies; 

f°"  °f  '^^  '''"d  was   the   Okayama  Asylum, 

V-r;:;.*!""-    ^°""''^  '"./.^^^  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Ishii.     It  is 

a  cheering  illustration  of  the  power  of  Christianity 

A.    •      •     .         *°    ""S  forth  its  fruits  in  the  Japanese  character 

and  to  inspire  in  them  as  in  others  a  spirit  of  servL      It  s ;"«""; 

Ood  s  purpose  both  to  call  the  Christians  of  Japan  to  workLf  b!nefi    ' 


(Continued  from  p.  ^jj.) 

^=*'"°''-  Society. 

Bhaisdehi if   r  r   u  »# 

*',:'J' Ba.M.S 

^"*'"*>»<1 Z.  B.  M.  M  

Cawnpore W.  U.  M.  S.      

Bhagalpur q.  M  S  

,      "'«"" W.M.S.'.'.' 

Hork  and  Workers  .n  th,  Mission  Field,  FebruarV.'  ^897.'  p.'ss. 


Inmatss. 

..  60 

•  59 

•  57 
■  57 

•  55 

•  55 


t    i 


i 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


453 


i 


cence,  and  to  sustain  them  in  Christian  labors  involving  personal  de- 
votion and  sacrifice.  More  than  that,  it  is  an  evidence  of  the  readiness 
of  Japanese  converts  to  respond  in  faith  and  love  to  such  demands 
upon  their  consecration. 

Mr.  Ishii  was  of  samurai  parentage,  and  was  bom  at  Takanabe,  in 
the  Province  of  Hyuga,  in  1865,  and  converted  to  the  Protestant 
faith  in  1884.  Early  in  his  Christian  career  he 
was  deeply  impressed  by  reading  such  books  as  ..  The  oeorKc  Muuer 
"Self-Help,"  by  Smiles,  and  accounts  of  the  of  the  Orient." 
efforts  of  Dr.  Guthrie  and  John  Pounds  on  behalf  of 
poor  children.  In  i886,  not  long  after  receiving  these  impressions,  Mr. 
George  Miiller  visited  Japan,  and  the  story  of  his  great  work  for  or- 
phans at  Bristol  fascinated  and  inspired  this  young  Japanese,  who  him- 
self has  now  come  to  be  known  as  "  the  George  Miiller  of  the  Orient." 
In  1887,  as  he  was  about  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  medicine,  after 
a  successful  preparatory  course  of  study,  he  began  his  mission  by  tak- 
ing to  his  home  a  poor  lad,  the  son  of  a  widow.  This  boy  has  re- 
mained with  him,  and  is  designated  as  the  original  orphan  of  the 
institution.  Mr.  Ishii  soon  gathered  others  around  him,  befriending 
and  aiding  them,  while  depending  upon  prayer  for  special  help  and 
guidance  in  his  undertaking.  Thus  his  orphanage  was  begun  in  the 
village  of  Kamiyasuji,  where  he  was  then  residing.  He  soon  removed 
it  to  Okayama,  and  hired  an  old  temple  for  his  purpose.  Around  this 
temple  his  extensive  plant  has  grown,  until  it  is  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent of  the  Christian  charities  of  Japan.  It  has  been  a  work  of  toil 
and  sacrifice,  and  often  of  much  anxiety,  conducted  in  a  spirit  of  in- 
tense and  constant  prayer.  Gradually  it  became  known  among  those 
who  were  glad  to  minister  to  its  support.  Friends  increased  in  num- 
ber, and  their  gifts  grew  more  bountiful.  Mr.  Ishii  was  greatly  blessed 
from  the  outset  by  the  friendship  and  support  of  the  Rev.  James  H. 
Pettee  and  family,  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  at  Okayama.  Mr. 
Pettee  has  published  abroad  the  unique  features  of  the  undertaking,  and 
given  information  concerning  its  needs.^  It  has  friends  at  present  on 
every  continent,  and  there  are  many  in  Great  Britain  and  America  who 

1  Cf.  a  pamphlet  by  Mr.  Pettee,  entitled  "  J.  Ishii  and  His  Institution,  Japan's 
Chief  Apostle  of  Faith:  The  George  Miiller  of  the  Orient,  and  His  Unique 
Orphanage,"  printed  at  Yokohama  in  1892.  Cf.  also  "  Mr.  Ishii  and  His  Orphan- 
age," an  illustrated  pamphlet  by  the  same  author,  printed  at  the  Asylum  Press, 
Okayama,  1894. 

Mr.  Pettee  introduces  the  first  pamphlet  with  the  following  tribute  to  the  man 
and  hit  work :  "  Mr.  J.  Ishii,  of  Okayama,  is  perhaps  the  most  widely  known 
living  Japanese  Christian.     Not  only  from  end  to  end  of  this  Eastern  land  is  his 


t    \  I 


454 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


I 


contribute  regularly  to  its  support.  Just  as  its  financial  year  in  1897 
was  closing,  a  debt  of  over  nine  hundred  dollars  seemed  to  be  impend- 
ing, but  a  letter  was  even  then  on  the  way  from  America  with  a  gift  of 
a  thousand  dollars  from  Miss  Elizabeth  Billings,  of  New  York,  which 
reached  the  treasury  just  in  time  to  cancel  the  debt  and  close  the 
yearns  accounts  with  a  small  balance  on  the  right  side. 

The  Okayama  Asylum  passed  its  tenth  anniversary  on  September  22, 
1897.1    The  plant  has  grown  until  it  includes  several  buildings,  the  facili- 
ties for  conducting  various  industries,  an  annex 
The  record  of.        with  a  farm  and  a  mill  for  preparing  rice,  in  the 
r  c  t  deed..        Province  of  Hyuga,  situated  on  the  Island  of  Kiu- 
shiu,  and  a  boat  as  a  means  of  transport.     The 
prmtmg  department  is  located  in  a  building  purchased  with  funds 
contributed  by  Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  Dr.  F.  E.  Clark  having 
opened  the  subscription  list  with  a  generous  gift.     Its  periodical.  The 
Asyltnn  Record,  is  published  in  English,  and  there  is  a  Japanese  edition, 
the  Kojttn  Shimpo,  or  "  Asylum  News."     Twelve  other  periodicals  are 
printed  by  workmen  at  the  Asylum  Press.    The  following  industries  are 
a  so  taught  m  connection  with  the  Orphanage:  the  cultivation  and 
cleaning  of  nee,  farming,  carpentry,  weaving,  the  raising  of  silkworms 
navigation,  and  the  manufacture  of  some  useful  commodities,  such  as 
matches,  and  straw  braid  for  hats.     It  is  the  desire  of  the  founder  to 
make  the  institution  self-supporting  as  far  as  possible,  and  to  secure  a 
sufficient  endowment  to  guarantee  its  financial  needs.      There  could 
hardly  be  found  in  all  Japan  a  more  instructive  illustration  of  the 

worth  respected,  but  his  name  has  gone  out  into  all  Christendom  as  a  synonym  for 
fearless  fa.th  and  practical  piety.     His  simple  trust  in  God  is  as  refreshing  as  it  is  rare.  " 
Mr^  Pettee  at  the  end  of  the  first  decade  records  his  judgment  of  the  work 
done      He  writes  :   "  We  would  sum  up  the  results  accomplished  as  follows  :  over 
five  hundred  needy  people,  mostly  children,  befriended  and  led  into  a  larger  and  better 
life ;  a  spirit  of  self-help  and  large-hearted  benevolence  planted  in  many  young  hearts  • 
an  inspiring  example  set  to  scores  of  similar  institutions,  Christian,  Buddhist,  an.l 
secular;  a  world-wide  interest  aroused  in  this  one  work  and  the  principles  on  which 
.t  was  founded.     These  principles  may  be  defined  as  faith  voicing  itself  in  intense 
prayer,  biblical  teaching  as  the  only  true  basis  of  a  correct  and  useful  life,  an  earnest 
spirit  of  self-help  developed  in  the  face  of  stern  trial,  and  a  love  for  others  that  is 
the  highest  socialism.     The  Asylum  has  done  all  this,  and  is  still  true  to  the  faith 
o   Its  earlier  years,  still  believes  in  prayer  and  realized  answers  to  prayer,  the  sini- 
pie  Gospe.  of  a  crucified  Redeemer,  a  high  spiritual  life,  and  tireless  activity  in 
labors  of  love.  ' 

"  For  al!  that  it  has  done  through  suffering  and  success,  it  gives  to  God  the  glorv, 
and  in  a  spirit  of  joyous  praise,  of  humble  devotion,  and  of  renewed  couraRe,  u 
starts  out  f..r  the  next  great  goal  a  half-score  years  ahead."-  The  Asvlum  P.conI, 
October.  1897,  p.  5.  -  ' 


.2 


M~ 


5     a 


C-H     if=     - 


II     ^- 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS  455 

possibilities  of  Christianity  among  that  impressible  people  than  the 
Okayama  Orphanage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ishii,  with  its  278  inmates. 

Since  its  establishment,  other  institutions,  under  native  auspices, 
have  sprung  up  in  different  parts  of  the  empire.    Prominent  among  them 
is  the  "  Morning  Star  Orphanage,"  at  Nasunohara, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  S.  Kongo,  with  41  in-      o**"*'  «ne  imtitu- 
mates.      There  is  still  another  at  Mombetsu,  in    *'""*  XlVtiin"'""* 
the  Hokkaido,  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev. 
Taketaro  Hayashi.     The  Rev.  E.  Rothesay  Miller,  of  the  Reformed 
Church  Mission  at  Morioka,  writes  to  the  author  commending  in  high 
terms  the  service  rendered  by  Mr.  Hayashi.     The  plan  of  administra- 
tion was  conceived  by  the  latter  while  he  was  a  pastor  in  the  Hokkaido. 
The  financial  support  is  derived  from  government  lands,  reclaimed 
and  cultivated  with  a  view  to  making  the  orphanage  entirely  a  self- 
supporting  institution.     For  the  "  steriing  qualities  "  of  the  enterprising 
young  pastor  Mr.  Miller  has  "a  high  admiration."    At  Oji,  near 
Tokyo,  there  is  a  fine  asylum  with  55  inmates,  under  Protestant  Episco- 
pal auspices,  and  conducted  by  Mr.  A.  Osuga.     It  has  recently  been 
named  the  "  Holy  Trinity  Orphanage,"  and  is  intended  especially  for 
giris.     Mr.  Osuga,  who  is  greatly  respected  by  missionaries  in  Japan, 
has  turned  his  attention  also  to  the  education  of  feeble-minded  children, 
and  mtends  to  make  this  a  distinctive  feature  of  his  benevolent  work. 
The  native  congregation  of  St.  John's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  at 
Osaka  is  supporting  St.  John's  Orphanage.     At  Maebashi  Mr.  H. 
Kaneko  superintends  the  Jomo  Orphanage.     Another,  at  Kobe,  is  in 
charge  of  Mr.  K.  Yoshikawa.     There  is  also  an  institution  at  Tokyo, 
established  by  a  Christian  teacher,  who  devotes  to  it  all  his  property' 
and  at  Yokohama  a  Japanese  church-member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Mission  has  opened  his  own  home  for  the  reception  of  orphans. 
At  Gifu  the  Nobi  Orphanage  is  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Y.  Igarashi, 
and  at  Hiramatsu  Dr.  T.  Nishi  conducts  the  Kyusai  Kojiin.     Let  it  be 
noted  that  all  these  institutions  have  been  founded  since  Mr.  Ishii's 
initial  effort  in  1887. 

There  are  others  under  foreign  mission  auspices,  as  the  two  at 
Kanazawa,  one  maintained  by  the  Canadian  Methodists,  and  the  other 
founded  and    independently  supported   by   the 
efforts  of  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  T.  C.  Winn,  of  the  The  efforts  of  miwion- 
Presbyterian  Mission.    At  Kumamoto  there  was  "L7S'°j.Vr„'" 
an  Amencan  Methodist  Episcopal  institution,  but 
it  has  been  very  recently  removed  to  Koga.     In  Nagoya  the  Cana- 
dian Church  Missionary  Association  supports  the  Yoro-in  Asylum. 
Near  Osaka  is  an  American  Protestant  Episcopal  institution  known  as 


jli 


I    s' 


4S6 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


\ 


the  "  Widely  Loving  Society,"  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  J. 
Kobashi,  where  a  fine  training  in  farming  is  given  to  the  pupils,  who 
now  number  33.  At  Tokyo  Miss  Kate  M.  Youngman,  of  the  Presby- 
terian Mission,  has  for  several  years  counted  a  little  group  of  orphans 
as  members  of  her  own  household,  and  has  cared  for  them  with  loving 
oversight.  The  Anglicans  have  also  the  John  Bishop  and  St.  Andrew's 
Orphanages  at  Tokyo,  while  still  another  is  conducted  there,  under  the 
care  of  the  Canadian  Methodists.  At  Chofu  the  American  Baptists 
have  an  asylum.  This  rapid  development  of  humane  charity  so  largely 
under  native  direction  gives  cheering  assurance  that  Japanese  Chris- 
tianity will  do  its  duty  towards  orphans.  Industrial  training  is  a  feature 
in  many  of  these  orphanages,  and  the  work  done  by  the  pupils  often 
renders  the  institutions  partially  self-supporting.  At  Kanazawa  brushes 
of  various  kinds  are  made  and  sold  to  provide  for  the  expenses  of  the 
asylum.  It  may  be  noted  also  that  the  Buddhists  have  founded 
some  similar  institutions,  the  most  important  of  which  is  the  Fukuta- 
Kwai,  in  Tokyo. 

In  Korea  an  orphanage  at  Chemulpo  was  opened  by  the  late  Dr. 

Landis,  of  the  Anglican  Mission.     At  Seoul  a  Home  for  Destitute 

Children  has  lately  been  established,  under  the 

^ ,.    ,    .     ,   „  charge  of  Miss  Ellen  Pash  and  Miss  Jean  Perry, 

A  beginning  In  Korea.     ,  .,  ,  ■' 

the  responsible  oversight  being  in  the  hands  of  a 
local  council,  with  Dr.  Underwood  as  Chairman. 
Some  native  Christians  in  Japan  are  purposing  to  carry  their  orphanage 
work  into  Korea.  The  Okay^ma  Orphanage  has  ah-eady  sent  a  part  of 
its  benevolent  fund,  raised  in  hon^^r  of  the  completion  of  its  first 
decade,  to  aid  in  the  founding  of  an  asylum  for  Korean  orphans  at 
Seoul.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  for  some  time  conducted  an 
institution  in  that  city,  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Paul  de 
Chartres.  All  this  s'lows  clearly  that  though  evangelistic  work  is  still 
so  new  in  that  land,  even  the  mere  indirect  results  of  missions  are 
beginning  to  appear. 

In  China  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  interesting  orphan  asylums  is 

the  Berlin  Foundling  Home  at  Hong  Kong,  opened  in  1850.     The 

late  Mrs.  B.  C.  Henry  was  so  touched,  some  years 

^orfoun'dHiTg'rnd"    *^°'  ^^  ^***  P*"'*  °^  ovp\i3.n  girls  at  Cauton  that 
orphans  in  China.      she  founded  a  modest  orphanage,  which  she  con- 
ducted for  several  years,  and  in  which  many  little 
waifs  were  saved  from  the  dismal  fate  which  threatens  destitute  and 
deserted  daughters  in  China.*     At  Amoy  is  a  home  for  infant  girls, 

'  Henry,  "  The  Cross  and  the  Dragon,"  p.  311. 


THE  SOCIAL  HESULTS  OF  MISSIO.VS  457 

undw  the  charge  of  the  English  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Church 
Missions.     The  ladies  of  these  missions  estabh'shed  it  because  they  felt 
keenly  the  need  of  a  place  of  refuge  for  baby  girls  whose  sad  fate 
they  desired  to  avert.i    At  Foochow  is  the  Mary  E.  Crook  Memorial 
Orphanage,  in  charge  of  Methodist  missionaries,  with  34  inmates,  and 
near  by,  at  Kucheng,  the  Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary  So- 
ciety has  30  little  protegees  in  the  "  Bird's  Nest  Foundling  Asylum." 
It  washere  that  Miss  Hessie  Newcombe  and  Miss  Elsie  Marshall  suffered 
martyrdom,  while  engaged  in  their  service  of  love.     At  Shanghai,  St. 
Mary's  Orphanage,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Mission,  reports  40 
girls.     Other  institutions  are  at  Nanking,  Hinghua,  and  Chinkiang. 
Roman  Catholic  missionaries  have  devoted  themselves  especially  to 
these  benevolent  efforts  for  orphans  and  foundlings  in  China.     In 
Manchuria  alone  about  1500  boys  and  giris  are  in  their  asylums.2 
Unusual  interest  attaches  to  orphanage  work  in  this  empire,  in  view  of 
the  prevalence  of  infanticide,  as  well  as  for  reasons  already  indicated. 
At  Singapore  there  are  49  inmates  in  the  Mary  C.  Nind  Home,  under 
the  charge  of  Miss  S.  Blackmore,  of  the  American  Methodist  Mission. 
Orphanages  are  conducted  here  and  there  in  the  South  Sea  Islands, 
among  them  one  which  was  founded  in  the  New  Hebrides,  by  Dr. 
Paton.     In  Australia  there  is  work  of  this  kind  carried  on  by  the 
Moravians.    In  Madagascar  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society  and  the  English  Friends  have  each    Re.cu.  work  for  chii- 
an  orphanage  at  Antananarivo,  in  which  are  39    i"'*" '»  various  fietdi. 
children.    Other  asylums  are  maintained  under  the 
care  of  the  Norwegian  Society  at  Antananarivo  and  Antsirabe,  and 
under  the  direction  of  the  United  Norwegian  Lutheran  Church  of 
America  at  Fort  Dauphin.    The  London  Society  also  has  one  at  Am- 
bohimanga.     In  the  neighboring  Island  of  Mauritius  is  the   Rose 

>  ••  The  lady  missionaries  had  its  establishment  laid  on  their  hearts  by  what  they 
saw  round  about  them  of  the  fate  of  many  of  the  girls  born  into  Chinese  homes. 
There  is  scarcely  a  Christian  woman  in  the  Church  who  has  not,  in  her  heathen 
days,  killed  one  or  more  of  her  girls.  In  one  case  Miss  Johnston  mentioned,  nine 
out  of  ten  girls  had  been  killed  by  their  own  mother.  Miss  Johnston  was  one  day 
visiting  the  Mission  Hospital  at  Amoy,  when  a  woman  came  in  crying,  with  a  baby 
m  her  arms.  The  little  thing  was  going  to  be  blind,  and  the  doctor  could  not  help 
her.  The  woman  said,  '  I  must  throw  her  away ;  I  cannot  keep  her. '  The  child  had 
been  given  to  her  by  its  mother.  She  was  sorry  to  have  the  little  baby  die.  but  she 
could  not  possibly  be  encumbered  with  a  blind  girl !  The  ladies  of  the  Mission  took 
the  httle  thing  from  the  woman,  and  then,  thus  led  into  it,  they  raised  money  in 
Amoy,  rented  a  house,  and  set  up  their  Babies'  Home." - TA,  Mofithly  Mtssmger 
May,  1894.  p.  112.  ^  4    . 

»  Tk<  Independent,  July  25,  1895,  article  on  "  Mission  Work  in  Manchuria." 


f    1; 


)^, 


468 


CJ/X/Sr/AJV  AflSSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


Belle  Orphanage  of  the  Church  Miuionary  Society,  with  51  girls  on 
its  roll. 

On  the  Continent  of  Africa  some  institutions  especially  for  orphans 
are  reported.  Their  number  would  be  larger  were  they  not  more 
properly  classed  as  training-schools  or  homes  for  rescued  slave 
children.  In  connection  with  the  Delta  Pastorate  there  is  provided 
at  Bonny  a  shelter  for  orphans,  under  the  caiv;  of  Mrs.  Crowther, 
and  at  Harper,  Cape  Palmas,  the  American  Protestant  Episcopal 
missionaries  have  gathered  56  girls  into  St.  Mark's  Orphan  Asylum. 
At  Capetown,  St.  George's  Orphanage,  with  40  girls,  is  under  An- 
glican super\ision.  Canon  Booth  has  established  an  orphanage  at 
Durban,  Natal,  among  the  Indian  coolies.  The  Swedish  Church  has 
also  opened  institutions  in  various  portions  of  Zululand,  and  the  South 
African  General  Mission  has  an  asylum  at  Capetown.  The  Pres- 
byterians have  a  children's  home  at  Luebo,  in  the  Congo  State,  and 
the  only  orphanage  in  Morocco  is  conducted  at  Casablanca  by  mis- 
sionaries of  the  North  Africa  Mission.  Homes  for  rescued  slave 
children  maintained  by  the  Universities'  Mission,  such  as  that  under 
the  care  of  Miss  Mills  and  Miss  Clutterbuck  at  Kilimani,  are  men- 
tioned elsewhere  in  this  volume  (p.  322). 

The  South  American  Missionary  Society  has  institutions  in  South 
America,  at  Tekenika  and  at  Ushuaia,  in  the  "  Land  of  Fire,"  and 
another  at  Alberdi,  in  Uruguay.  At  San  Bernardo,  in  Chile,  is  the  Powell 
Orphanage,  begun  under  the  au.spices  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mis- 
sion, but  now  independently  supported.  The  first  Protestant  orphanage 
established  in  Argentine  was  founded  at  Buenos  Ayres  by  Mr.  W.  C.  K. 
Torre,  in  1894,  and  is  still  conducted  by  him.  The  Orphan  Home  of 
the  Anglican  Church  in  Trinidad  has  190  inmates.  The  Rev.  \V.  D. 
Powell  has  opened  an  institution  at  Toluca,  Mexico,  and  the  Moravians 
one  for  Indian  children  at  New  Fairfield,  Canada. 


14.  Promoting  Cleanliness  and  Sanitation.— Cleanliness  is  a 

social  virtue,  and  Christian  missions  foster  it  in  many  lands  where  dirt 

is  domesticated  in  the  homes  of  the  people,  and 

Millions  an  incentive   where  disgusting  slovcnliness— in  many  instances 

to  pcrtonat  cieaniinest.  intolerable  filth— is  more  or  less  characteristic  of 

the  individual.     A  Christian  convert  in  almost  any 

mission  field  is  sure  to  become   nore  prepossessing  and  more  tidy  in 

person  and  environment,  to  an  extent  which  is  differential.     The  Rev. 

Dr.  J.  I,.  Barton,  formerly  a  missionar)-  in  Asia  Minor,  writes  on  this 

point :  "  We  find  that  those  who  have  accepted  the  Gospel  immediately 


s  on 


hani 
nore 
ilave 
ided 
ther, 
opal 
lum. 
An- 
e  at 
has 
outh 
'res- 
and 
mis- 
lave 
[ider 
nen- 


3Uth 

and 
well 
Mis- 
lage 
.  K. 
e  of 
D. 
ians 


IS  a 

dirt 
and 
ices 
c  of 
any 
Y  in 
lev. 
this 
tely 


I 


I 


1 

1    H 

m 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOS'S  460 

evince  a  deilre  to  clianj,'c  the  sanitary  conditions  nf  their  homes  at-  well 
as  their  villages.  Many  families  who  before  were  (i.niint  .  .upy 
the  »ame  winter  quarters  as  their  cattle,  in  dark,  unventilated  stables, 
now  build  additional  rooms  cither  upon  the  top  or  at  the  side,  ami  live 
separately.  A  mind  aroused  by  the  Gospel  at  once  appreciates  the 
fact  that  man  is  higher  than  the  animal,  and  so  worthy  of  a  l»etter  place 
in  which  to  live."  Dr.  G.  C.  Raynolds,  of  Van,  Turkey,  states:  "  A 
much  greater  •!  r'  to  the  laws  of  health,  in  the  arrangement  of 
homes,  in  nittt,  ■  i  to  cle-  :i"fss  of  the  person  and  of  the  household, 
is  appareni  l:  Gc' i  !■  .  .t,  of  Beirut,  corroborates  these  testi- 
monies IS  ioII.W!''  '  '-ii  ,n  i.s  ave  done  much  to  teach  personal 
cleanlm   .?  -^u\  Ju  ,h'.  )U1  iiy^l  The  homes  of  all  girls  educated 

in  mi  i,  ».!  .,\o»  's  ^x■■  d'lbi'.i  i,  ,  fof  their  betterment  in  this  regard. 
Protp  i.f.t  far  , lie,  a--  •  iri.  -.  L  to  all  in  the  matter  of  neatness  and  free- 
dom rod  :\u  r  I<  ■3M>;.  '  Ti  is  is  partly  the  result  of  example  and 
therecot'i.-i'  u  f  li.  jiin,.'orhiimsof  refinement,  and  partly  the  instinct 
of  higher  self  rpM-  <"  'm  '  >.o  >vert.  It  is  an  encouraging  response  to 
the  practical  i:M.i  of  sclic  i  life  and  training,  and  often  illumines  and 

beautifies  the  new  nomes  of  pupils  who  are  beginning  domestic  life  for 
themselves  after  a  course  of  education.     It  casts  by  contrast  a  shadow 


bao. 


F  5  ji 

•"1 


>  Misiionaries  in  other  lands  express  the  same  judgment:  "One  striking  fact 
following  the  acceptance  of  Christianity  ha,  been  the  improvement  in  the  clothing, 
housing,  and  food  of  the  people.  The  ontcome  of  these  bettered  con.litions  is  ap- 
parent in  •  generally  improved  state  of  health,  and  by  a  marked  decrease  in  infant 
mortality.  This  last  point— the  high  death-rate  among  infants— is  one  of  the  most 
striking  features  of  heathen  life  to  a  medical  man,  and  its  diminution  is  the  more 
noticeable."-Rev.  Robert  Laws,  M.U.,  D.D.  (F.  C.  S.),  Kondowi,  Livingstoni.-*, 
British  Central  Africa. 

"  A  few  among  the  natives  have  learned  that  '  cleanliness  is  next  to  go<lliness,' 
and  fbeir  persons,  their  homes,  and  the  surroundings  of  those  homes,  are  models 
ofneatne»s."-Rev.  J.  Pearse  (L.  M.  S.),  I     narantsoa,  Madagascar. 

"  It  is  refreshing  to  see  the  clean  houses  a  villages  of  Christians,  instead  of  the 
filthy  heathen  hovels  of  previous  years. "-Rev.  G.  I..  MacKay  (C.  P.  .M.),  Tamsui, 
Formosa. 

"  The  Christians,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  improve  their  homes  and  home  surround- 
ings, are  more  alive  to  the  importance  of  pure  air  and  water,  of  good  food,  rest,  and 
sufficient  exercise.  Indirectly,  at  least,  Christianity  has  brought  them  the  knowledge 
of  sanitation,  and  directly  it  has  taught  them  the  sacredness  of  all  life,  and  the  duty 
we  owe  to  ourselves  and  others  in  the  matter  of  health."- Rev.  J.  .Morton,  D.D. 
(C.  P.  M.),  Trinidad. 

"  Insanitary  conditions,  arising  from  burying  the  dead  in  the  dwellings  of  the 
living,  filthy  clothing,  and  unwashed  bodies,  are  very  much  altered.  No  government 
authority  in  this ;  simply  the  influence  of  our  example  and  our  schools,  even  upon 
those  who  are  yet  heathen."— Rev.  Robert  H.  Nassau,  M.D.  (P.  B.  F.  M.  N.), 
B»r»k»,  Gaboon,  West  Africa. 


I 


460 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PKOGRESS 


of  reproach  and  discomfort  over  the  old  customs,  and  insures  a 
measure  of  discontent  with  conditions  thai  are  foul  and  objectionable. 
It  is  a  charming  spectacle  to  behold  this  new  cleanliness  of  the  person 
and  the  home,  and  to  see  the  whole  life  becoming  more  orderly  and 
wholesome. 

Although  these  changes,  in  almost  every  instance  where  they  occur, 

are  distinctively  Christian,  yet  it  is  not  true  that  there  is  universal  filthi- 

ness,  individual  and  social,  in  the  Oriental  world. 

An  awakened  desire  for  Among  the  higher  classes  of  the  older  civiliza- 

aanitary  reform.       tjong  (here  is  often  little  to  o«!end  a  casual  observer, 
although  an  exception  must  be  made  to  this  state- 
ment in  reference  to  the  insanitary  disposition  of  garbage.     In  the 
streets  and  homes  where  even  the  best  people  reside,  sometimes  in  the 
wealthiest  quarters  of  the  largest  cities,  filthy  conditions  are  apt  to 
prevail,  while  among  the  rank  and  file  in  the  lower  walks  of  life  the 
public  highways  and  the  dwellings  are  usually  in  a  state  which  is 
loathsome.     This  is  a  stumbling-block  in  the  path  of  civilization  and 
social  betterment.     It  ruins  the  water-supply,  breeds  the  germs  of  fright- 
ful diseases,  and  is  the  chief  source  of  those  plagues  and  pestilences  which 
cut  a  swath  through  whole  sections  of  society.     The  heathen  worid 
has  been  long  at  the  mercy  of  these  insanitary  conditions,  and  thou- 
sands, even  millions,  of  victims  have  paid  the  penalty.     The  indirect 
benefits  of  missions  in  securing  improved  surroundings  and  introducing 
remedial  measures  are  not  at  once  apparent  to  a  casual  observer,  and  can 
be  discovered  only  by  considerable  searching  and  inquiry.     Reports 
from  every  direction  indicate  that  there  is  much  to  be  said  on  this 
subject.      The  Rev.   L.   L.   Uhl,  Ph.D.,  a   Lutheran  missionary  at 
Guntur,  India,  writes:  "The  poorer  people  have  learned  through  us 
the  power  of  acting  unitedly  to  accomplish  some  good  end,  especially 
the  securing  of  a  better  water-supply.     Through   Christian   efforts 
whole  communities  have  already  been  led  to  give  up  the  eating  of 
non-slaughtered  beasts.    In  many  places  the  habit  of  devouring  the  flesh 
of  diseased  animals  and  of  carrion  has  entirely  ceased,  and  the  people 
are  more  intelligent  and  brighter-looking  for  this  reform.      It  is  the 
Christians  who  call  attention  to  the  decaying,  unburied  carcasses,  and 
to  the  washing  of  clothes  in  drinking-tanks."  » 

'  "  The  supply  of  good  drinking-water  which  the  natives  enjoy  in  many  places 
is  due  almost  altogether  to  the  missionaries.  They  have  also  done  mucK  in  getting 
the  people,  chiefly  the  Christians,  to  remove  their  villages  to  healthier  localities. 
The  houses  being  made  of  timber  and  bamboo,  it  is  not  difficult  to  carry  them  from 
one  place  to  another.     In  some  commiuiities  the  mortality  is  very  great ;  but  by  the 


THE  SOCIAL  XESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


4G1 


India  has  always  been  noted  for  its  neglect  not  only  of  every 
hygienic  precaution,  but  in  certain  respects  of  the  simple  decencies  of 
living.     Missions,  of  course,  have  had  little  to  do 
officially  with  the  establishment  and  enforcement     H*ipfu«  coepcrmtion 
of  modem  sanitary  regulations.     The  British  Gov-    **  *   'in  indil!'""*" 
ernment  is  discharging  this  gigantic  task  as  far  and 
as  fast  as  the  serious  difficulties  allow.*     Missions,  however,  have  much 
to  do  in  preparing  the  people  to  welcome  and  respond  to  the  efforts 
of  the  Government  in  this  direction.     It  is  the  ignorant  and  bigoted 
children  of  superstition,  the  thronging  pilgrims,  the  fanatical  devotees, 
the  slaves  of  custom,  the  men  and  women  whose  lives  are  stagnant, 
and  whose  outlook  has  no  gleam  of  better  things,  who  are  intractable 
and  immovable.     Hearts  and  minds  into  which  the  light  of  mission 
instruction  and  culture  has  entered  are  ready  for  a  sweeter  and  more 
wholesome  existence.^ 


fi 


n 


t; 


,:  ; 


advice  of  the  missionaries  they  move  to  healthier  places,  and  the  change  in  some 
cases  has  been  marvelloas.  For  instance,  there  was  a  village  in  my  district,  con- 
sisting of  about  one  hundred  persons.  Within  twelve  years,  about  sixty  of  them, 
chiefly  children,  had  died  there.  In  a  few  years  more  they  would  probably  have 
died  out  altogether ;  but  where  they  are  now,  the  atmosphere  is  healthful,  and  the 
water-supply  good,  so  they  flourish  and  multiply.  The  older  people  have  renewed 
their  strength,  and  the  children  are  strong  and  vigorous."— Rev.  Robert  Evans 
(W.  C.  M.  M.  S.),  Mawphlang,  Shillong,  Assam.  Cf.  also  an  article  on  "  Training 
in  Hygiene,"  by  Mrs.  H.  Morrow,  M.D.,  of  Tavoy,  Burma,  in  The  Pxptisi  Mit- 
ttomiry  Magazint,  May,  1898,  pp.  181,  182. 

"  The  poor  sanitation  is  another  evil  that  has  greatly  diminished  in  Brazil  since  the 
introduction  of  the  Gospel.  The  city  of  Campinas,  which  for  so  many  years  was 
scourged  by  the  ravages  of  yellow  fever,  is  now  in  excellent  condition,  with  well- 
drained  streets  and  an  abundant  supply  of  pure  water.  Many  of  the  improvements 
made  in  this  city,  and  many  of  the  sanitary  measures  adopted,  were  due,  I  think, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  suggestions  made  by  our  missionaries. "--Miss  Char- 
lotte Kemper  (P.  B.  F.  M.  S.),  Lavras,  Brazil. 

1  Cf.  articles  on  "  The  Irdian  Doctors  and  the  Plague,"  in  The  Spectator,  April 
3>  1897,  and  on  "  Segregation  Camps  in  India,"  in  The  Missionary  Herald,  Octo- 
Vix,  1898,  pp.  385-387. 

Statements  c<./ncerning  the  unsavory  and  abominable  habits  of  the  people  may  be 
found  in  articles  on  "  Indian  Village  Life— Its  Present  Urgent  Want,"  by  M.  B.  Colah, 
M.D.,  in  The  Indian  Magazine  and  Review,  August,  1894,  and  on  "  Indian  Sanita- 
tion," by  A.  Rogers,  ibid.,  June,  1897.  See  also  an  article  by  Dr.  Mackichan,  in  The 
hree  Church  of  Scotland  Monthly,  March,  1897,  p.  61,  and  a  statement  concerning 
"  The  Disinfection  of  Wells  in  India,"  in  The  Independent,  March  25,  1897,  p.  16. 

*  "  The  moment  a  strange  visitation,  like  the  plague,  appears  in  the  midst  of  the 
people,  they  fly  with  offerings  to  their  gods,  while  a  matter-of-fact  administrator 
endeavours  to  indoctrinate  them  with  the  laws  of  hygiene,  and  offers  them  disinlrctants 
and  other  preventives.     Practical  and  calculati  g  though  our  countrymen  are  in 


% 


f'l 

i; 


463 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


I 


% 


iwi^i^iisa}mBmi- 


Mission  schools  are  giving  instruction  in  the  laws  of  health  and 

the  dangers  of  neglected  sanitation.     Dr.  John  Murdoch,  Secretary  in 

Southern  India  for  the  Chnstian  Literature  Society, 

Dr.  Murdoch  and  hii    hj^j  appealed  to  the  Universities,  petitioning  that 

campaign  of  lanitary      ,  ,.  ,,        .  i     i,  <  i 

reform  in  India.  the  suDject  of  hygiene  shall  be  made  a  requirement 
for  matriculation  ex' ninations.^  The  same  zeal- 
ous worker  for  the  good  of  that  land  has  published  an  admirable 
pamphlet  of  fifty-two  pages  on  "  Sanitary  Reform  in  India."  It  is  issued 
at  Madras,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Chnstian  Literature  Society  for 
India,  as  one  of  the  series  of  "  Papers  on  Indian  Social  Reform."  Its 
chapters  on  "  Pure  Water,"  "  Good  Food,"  "  Village  Sanitation,"  and 
many  other  timely  themes,  would,  if  heeded,  save  thousands  of  lives 
and  untold  suffering  throughout  the  country.  Among  the  "Simla 
Tracts,"  compiled  at  the  request  of  W.  Coldstream,  Esq.,  C.S.,  Deputy 
Commissioner  of  Simla,  for  the  use  of  the  village  people,  is  one  written 
by  the  late  Rev.  M.  M.  Carleton,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  on 
"  Good  Health  and  Good  Crops,"  and  another,  on  "  Cleanliness,"  by 
Edith  M.  Brown,  M.D.,  the  Principal  of  the  North  India  School  of 
Medicine  for  Christian  Women,  at  Lodiana. 

Miss  Florence  Nightingale,  long  known  to  the  world  as  a  devoted 

philanthropist,  has  interested  herself  for  some  years  in  the  effort  to 

secure  what  might  be  called  a  Health  Mission  to 

Mil*  Florence  r..xi-i  ...  •      ■,    , 

Nightingale  and  her     Rural  India,  by  commissionmg  those  suited  for 
Health  Minion  to      tjjg  gervice  to  visit  Indian  villages  and  give  lectures 

Rural  India.  ,        .  ,  .  .      ,  . 

on  hygiene,  making  practical  suggestions  as  to 
sanitation.^  In  this  plan  she  has  been  warmly  assisted  by  native 
reformers,  such  as  Mr.  B.  M.  Malabari,  of  Bombay.  In  fact,  the 
advocates  of  sanitary  reform  among  the  natives  of  India  are  in  most 
instances  either  Christians,  or  disciples  of  the  somajes,  sects  which 
have  usually  arisen  from  the  imperfect  assimilation  of  Christian  teaching. 
Among  the  latter  may  be  named  Rao  Bahadur  S.  Mudaliar,  who  is  de- 
most  things,  in  this  particular  direction  they  believe  this  characteristic  saying:  '  It 
is  the  will  of  our  gods;  let  it  work  without  let  or  hindrance.'  To  face  and  fight 
appe.irs  impious ;  all  that  they  care  to  do  is  to  petition  their  gods  to  stay  the  pest 
destroying  them.  Sentiments  like  these  stand  against  sanitation,  the  people  reject- 
ing the  saving  hand,  and,  worse  still,  turning  at  times  fiercely  on  their  rescuers. 
Therefore  it  is  necessary  to  exercise  great  forbearance,  and  wean  them  from  the 
folly  of  believing  that  the  divine  will  is  an  isolated  force  quite  uninfluenced  by 
human  endeavours.  We  should  then  teach  them  the  truth  contained  in  the  simple 
words,  '  God  helps  those  who  help  themselves.'  "—  The  Christian  Patriot,  Madras, 
November  12,  1898. 

'   The  ImtepttJent,  April  29,  1897,  article  on  "  The  Bubonic  Plague." 
'^  The  Indian  Magazine  and  Rei'iew,   Septe.ber,    1898,    pp.   239-241;    The 
Indian  S«(ial  Rejiirmtr,  December  20,  1896,  p.  122,  February  7,  1897,  p.  176. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


463 


scribed  as  a  man  of  liberal  education,  a  member  of  a  somaj  in  Bellaty, 
the  object  of  which  is  "  the  moral,  spiritual,  and  social  elevation  of  all 
classes  and  castes."  He  is  said  to  have  secured  to  his  native  town 
of  Bellary  "  entire  immunity  from  cholera  and  other  epidemic  diseases," 
and  has  been  noted  for  humanitarian  service  to  the  poor,  and  especially 
for  his  interest  in  the  cause  of  temperance.' 

The  Government  of  India  is  almost  powerless  to  enforce  sanitary 
laws  behind  the  closed  doors  of  the  homes,  even  when  the  perils  of  the 
plague  threaten  whole  communities.  Mission  in- 
fluence through  education  and  zenana  visitation  is  no  trac*  of  fatauim  in 
far  more  penetrating,  and  at  the  same  time  can  Chriitian  communitui. 
develop  a  public  opinion  in  support  of  cleanliness. 
At  Ahmednagar,  strange  to  say,  native  plague  inspection  committees 
were  organized  when  the  dreaded  visitation  threatened  in  1897.  Let 
it  be  noted,  however,  that  these  committees  were  formed  in  the  Chris- 
tian community  at  their  own  instigation.*  The  late  Rev.  J.  F.  Burditt, 
of  the  American  Baptist  Mission  in  India,  in  a  paper  upon  "  Work 
among  the  Depressed  Classes,"  calls  attention  to  the  subject  of  sanita- 
tion as  worthy  of  the  efforts  of  missionaries,  and  emphasizes  the  "  ten- 
dency of  regenerate  souls  to  keep  the  body  and  its  surroundings  pure."  ' 

One  or  two  aspects  of  this  subject  are  worthy  of  special  note.     In 
some  instances  the  services  of  missionaries  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
plague  have  been  acknowledged  by  the  British    oovernment  rerogni- 
Government  in  terms  of    marked   appreciation,    tion  of  the  lervice^  of 

,  ,        ,  ,  .       ,  ...  miMionaries  during  the 

Among   those  who   have  thus  received  cordial       prevalence  of  the 
recognition  for  their  beneficent  efforts  is  the  Rev.  plague. 

James  Smith,  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board  at  Ahmednagar,  of 
whom  it  was  said  in  the  government  report  that  "his  assistance  to  the 
Plague  Administration  of  Nagar  City  has  been  invaluable."*     The 

1  "Some  Noted  Indians  of  Modern  Times,"  pp.  94-97. 

>  Dr.  Julia  Bissell,  of  the  American  Board,  reports  as  follows  concerning  this 
undertaking:  "Energy  and  enthusiasm  were  shown  in  this  movement,  and  two 
committees,  one  of  four  and  one  of  three  members,  were  appointed  to  visit  near  and 
distant  Christian  homes,  respectively.  The  objects  of  these  committees  were:  (1) 
to  give  suggestions  on  cleanliness  of  the  individual  and  of  the  home  and  surround- 
ings to  any  who  needed  them ;  (2)  to  impress  on  them  the  connection  of  dirt  with 
contagious  diseases  ;  (3)  to  quiet  fears  ;  and  (4)  to  explam  to  them  the  meaning  of 
anti-plague  measures  adopted  in  the  city,  their  importance  to  the  public  health,  and 
the  reason?  for  complying  cheerfully  and  promptly  with  them.  The  committees  as- 
sembled twice  a  week  to  report  on  work  done  and  obstacles  met,  and  did  excellent 
%tx\\ce."— Life  and  Light  for  IVaman,  September,  1898,  p.  401. 

»  "  Report  of  the  Third  Decennial  Missionary  Conference,  Held  at  Bombay, 
1892-93,"  p.  13. 

*  Th*  Missionary  Herald,  August,  1898,  p.  294. 


Kt^fi^gnsu  { 

|B 

r 

[■ 

464  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PHOGXESS 

Government  Plague  Committee  specially  mentioned  Mrs.  Ball,  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  at  Karachi,  and  recorded  its  high  apprecia- 
tion of  the  "unwearying  care,  kindness,  and  sympathy"  shown  by 
her  in  her  ministrations  at  the  Convalescent  Hospital.' 

Another  striking  fact  which  arrests  the  attention  is  the  exceptional 
immunity  of  native  Christians  during  the  prevalence  of  deadly  visita- 
tions of  disease.     The  testimonies  from  various 

The  remarkable        directions  upon  this  point  are  too  explicit  and 

immunity  of  native  .  "^ 

Chriatiana.  Uniform  to  pass  unnoticed.    The  missionary  maga- 

zines of  1898  speak  repeatedly  upon  this  point. 
The  following  sentences  may  be  quoted  :  "  In  general,  throughout  the 
Presidency  there  have  been  very  few  cases  of  plague  among  Protestant 
Christians,  and  still  fewer  have  proved  fatal.  Faith  in  God's  protecting 
power,  readiness  to  further  all  rules  of  the  municipalities,  and  personal 
cleanliness  have  conduced,  we  believe,  to  their  marked  exemption."  - 
A  missionary  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  comments  as  follows : 
"  A  remarkable  feature  of  this  later  as  well  as  of  the  earlier  epidemic 
is  the  comparative  immunity  of  our  native  Christians  from  the  plague. 
It  is  probable  that  careful,  regular,  cleanly,  and  right  living  has  had 
much  to  do  with  it."  '  Concerning  a  recent  visitation  of  cholera  at 
Khammamett,  Miss  Wells,  of  the  Church  of  England  Zenana  Mission- 
ary Society,  reports :  "  Not  one  of  the  mission  party  or  workers  was 
attacked,  and  among  the  Christians  in  Khammamett  there  were  only 
five  cases,  all  mild,  and  all  yielding  to  treatment."  *  The  Rev.  A.  R. 
Cavalier,  of  the  Zenana,  Bible,  and  Medical  Mission,  writes  from  India, 
where  he  was  visiting  the  various  stations  of  that  society:  "There 
are  over  fifteen  hundred  native  Christians  in  Bombay.  During  the 
outbreak  only  six  of  them  were  attacked,  although  many  exposed 
themselves  to  constant  risk  in  their  efforts  to  minister  to  the  sick."  *  A 
recent  ofllicial  Health  Report  of  Bombay  strikingly  confirms  the  ex- 
ceptional healthfulness  of  the  Christian  community  of  that  city." 

1  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  October,  1898,  p.   779. 

•  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Mission  Field,  Aagust,  1898,  p.  343. 

>  Extract  of  letter  from  Poon»,  by  the  Rev.  John  Small,  in  The  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  Monthly,  March,  1 898,  p.  66. 

«  India's  Women,  October,  1898,  p.  240. 

•  Mercy  and  Truth,  May,  1898,  p.  99. 

•  The  comparative  mortality  among  the  varioas  races  and  castes  for  a  week  early 
in  June,  1898,  is  given  as  follows  : 

Low-caste  Hindus 52.95  per  1000 

Mohammedans 4S-93    "       " 

Jains 45-35    "      " 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


46S 


The  author  has  been  impressed  with  similar  statements  in  private 
letters  from  missionaries,  forwarded  to  him  from  different  fields.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  C.  F.  Gates,  of  Harpoot,  Turkey,  writes :  "  In  time  of  cholera 
it  has  been  noticed  that  the  evangelical  communities  were  to  a  marked 
degree  free  from  the  plague,  so  that  in  the  region  of  Cilicia  a  Turkish 
official  sail! :  '  How  is  it,  O  ye  Protestants ;  has  God  spread  His  tent 
over  you  that  you  are  so  spared  ? '  I  attribute  this  largely  to  the 
greater  cleanliness  and  less  fear  of  death  prevailing  among  evangelical 
Christians."  Other  testimonies  as  to  this  remarkable  exemption  might 
be  given,  but  the  few  mentioned  are  sufficient  to  indicate  that  the 
more  cleanly  habits  are  a  boon  to  native  Christian  communities  in 
foreign  lands.* 

The   paragraph  in  Volume   I.   (p.   222)  describing  the  sanitary 
condition  of  China  emphasizes  sufficiently  the  need  of  a  purifying 
crusade  among  its  people.     In  the  foreign  con- 
cessions of  some  of  the  large  cities,  notably  Shang-  cieanUnei*  a  chrittian 
hai  and  Hong  Kong,  scrupulous  care  is  taken  by        virtue  in  china, 
the   English   and  other  European  authorities  to 
maintain  proper  sanitation ;  but  the  native  (juarters,  as  is  the  case  in 
the  towns  and  villages  throughout  China,  are  steeped  in  filth.^    The 
Chinese  themselves  seem  to  be  mcorrigible,  and  live  on  in  dogged 
cheerfulness  amid  suffocating  odors  and  sickening  foulness,  such  as 
would  madden  Occidental  sensibilities,      r'he  plague  comes  as  a  matter 
of  course,  and  yet  if  sanitary  measures  are  enforced,  the  populace 

(Continued  from  p.  464. ) 

Europeans 27.63  per  1000 

Caste  Hindus    26.37  " 

Parsis 24. 10  " 

Eurasians 24.01  " 

Jews 20.71  " 

Bhattias 13. 17  " 

Brahmans 9. 58  " 

Native  Christians 8. 75  " 

Quoted  from  The  Times  of  India,  and  The  Church  of  Scotland  Home  and  Foreign 
Mission  Record,  January,  1899,  p.  11. 

•  "  It  may  be  truthfully  said  that  the  general  health  of  the  Protestants  as  a  body 
has  been  greatly  improved  by  their  superior  intelligence  in  regard  to  the  laws  of 
health,  and  by  the  attention  which  they  have  given  fo  the  sanitary  condition  of  their 
homes.  The  four  weekly  religious  nevspapers  published  for  many  years— one  of 
them  for  forty-eight  years— by  the  American  Mission  at  Constantinople  have  from 
the  beginning  contained  special  articles,  and  given  valuable  information,  in  almost 
every  issue,  touching  disease  and  the  laws  of  health  and  sanitatioa."— Rev.  J.  K. 
Greene,  D.D.  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  Constantinople,  Turkey. 

*  Macgowan,  "  Pictures  of  Southern  China,"  pp.  86,  163. 


466 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


T> 


grow  furious,  as  if  their  dearest  idols  and  their  most  sacred  rights 
were  being  desecrated.  It  would  seem  that  a  Chinese  must  become  a 
Christian  before  he  will  either  appreciate  or  practise  cleanliness,  and 
even  then  he  is  painfully  deliberate  about  it.*  "  At  the  time  of  the 
plague,"  writes  Dr.  Mary  H.  Fulton,  of  Canton,  "  the  Christians  were 
careful  to  whitewash  their  walls,  if  owners  would  permit  them— many 
of  whom  would  not,  however,  fearing  it  would  bring  '  bad  luck.'  They 
were  also  particular  about  disinfectants." 

The  same  remarkable  phenomenon,  of  the  exceptional  safety  of 

Christians,  is  reported  even  in  the  recent  visitation  at  Hong  Kong.    The 

Rev.  C.  Bennett,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 

piBKue-proof         writes  that  the  question  was  asked  by  heathen 

chrutian..  Chinese  in  Hong  Kong :   "  How  is  it  that  you 

Christians  do  not  take  the  plague?     We  have  had 

processions  and  fire-crackers,  and  made  presents  lo  our  gods,  but  all  in 

vain ;  we  are  dying  by  hundreds."     In  commenting  upon  this  fact  he 

remarks:    "Certainly  the  Christians  have  been  preserved  in  a  most 

marvellous  way,  although  living  in  some  of  the  worst  parts  of  the  city. 

We  have  lost,  out  of  two  hundred,  only  three  adults  and  one  child. 

One  of  the  former  was  an  old  woman  eighty  years  of  age,  and  the 

other  two  can  be  specially  explained."  2 

The  Rev.  Willard  L.  Beard,  of  the  American  Board,  at  Foochow, 
reports  that  for  the  first  time  in  its  history  a  street-cleaning  corps  has 
been  set  to  work  in  the  city.     It  is  the  result  of  a 
Mittionary  petition  presented  by  the  missionary  named,  in  co- 

••nitation.  operation  with  some  native  friends,  for  permission 

to  form  a  street-cleaning  corporation.'  Under  the 
head  of  "  Practical  Questions,"  the  Rev.  F.  Ohlinger  discusses  the 
possibility  of  sanitary  changes  in  the  architecture  of  Chinese  dwellings, 
and  proposes  that  special  missionary  literature  shall  be  put  forth  with 
a  view  to  securing  some  beneficial  reforms.*  During  the  recent  visita- 
tion of  the  plague  at  Amoy,  the  native  Christians  of  the  city  cleansed 
their  own  homes,  and  seized  the  opportunity  to  do  missionary  work  in 
behalf  of  more  wholesome  living.  They  prepared  leaflets  for  dis- 
tribution, in  which  Christian  truth  and  timely  information  suited  to  the 
emergency  were  mingled,  and  put  them  into  the  hands  of  the  populace. 
Many  of  the  panic-stricken  people  were  led  to  turn  from  superstitious 

1  The  Monthly  Messenger,  October,  1894,   p.  233. 

*  The  Chunk  Missionary  Iiitelligfiuer,  Aug'^st,  1S94,  p.  754. 

'  The  Missionary  H.rald,  Decenil)cr,  1897,  p.  514. 

«  The  Chinese  Recorder,  August,  1898,  p.  398. 


I 


o  y. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  M/SS/O.VS 


467 


•nd  idolatrous  devices  to  needed  precautions,  and  some,  let  us  hope, 
to  an  intelligent  trust  in  God.' 

In  Korea,  at  least  in  the  capital,  a  great  change  has  been  noted 
within  a  year  or  two.  Mr.  M'Leavy  Brown,  the  English  Commis- 
sioner of  Customs,  seconded  by  the  Governor  of  the  City,  Ye  Cha 
Yun,  who  once  studied  the  municipal  administration  of  Washington, 
has  effected  a  radical  metamorphosis  in  the  sanitation  of  Seoul.2  "  A 
new  thing  in  the  capital— a  garbage  company.  Now  for  solid  work!  " 
says  The  Korran  Repository  of  August,  1896.  If  not  missionary  work 
in  its  official  form,  this  must  be  considered  as  an  independent  lay  effort 
for  the  public  good.  The  Rev.  David  S.  Spencer,  of  Nagoya,  Japan, 
writes  concerning  that  country :  "  The  improvements  in  public  sanita- 
tion are  cause  for  great  rejoicing.  All  this  is  modern,  and  may  be 
covered  by  a  period  reaching  back  only  seventeen  years.  The  changes 
are  along  the  line  of  water-supply  for  cities,  improved  sewerage,  better 
construction  of  houses,  careful  supervision  of  shops  selling  meats  and 
vegetables,  and  systematic  arrangements  for  quarantine  and  the  fight- 
ing of  contagious  diseases.  The  date  within  which  all  this  has  occurred 
shows  plainly  to  what  the  reforms  must  be  attributed.  The  average  of 
life  is  increasing  rapidly  here,  and  great  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the 
importance  of  proper  sanitation." 

A  fact  of  interest  appears  in  some  sections  of  the  world  where 
civilization,  or  rather  the  material  and  seamy  aspect  of  it,  has  appa- 
rently exacted  the  gradual  e,xtinction  of  native 
races  as  the  price  of  its  introduction.     It  is  notice-  The  benefits  of  ««i.it«ry 

^  reiorm  among  native 

able  that  where  Christianity   has  entered   it  has  race». 

retarded  and  in  some  instances  is  actually  pre- 
venting this  extinction.  There  are  illustrations  of  this  in  some  of  the 
Pacific  Islands.  "  In  consequence  of  the  conformity  of  the  natives  to 
the  laws  of  health  and  morality,  and  of  wise  medical  care  provided  for 
them  by  mission  agencies  and  by  new  and  intelligent  governments,  their 
bodily  health  is  promoted,  while  their  spiritual  natures  are  improved. 
As  the  missionaries  have  sometimes  rescued  native  infants  from  being 
buried  alive  by  their  savage  parents,  so  they  are  rescuing  native  races 
from  extinction ;  and  although  greatly  diminished  in  numbers,  those 
races  will  continue  as  monuments  of  the  power  for  good  in  the  foreign 
mission  enterprise."  '     In  India,  especially,  the  increase  of  the  popu- 

«  Article  by  the  Rev.  John  A.  Davis,  on  "  The  Plague  in  China,"  in  The  Chris- 
tian IntiUigencer,  February  3,  1897. 

'  Bishop,  "  Korea  and  Her  Neighbors,"  p.  435. 
»  Alexander,  "  Islands  of  the  Taciiic,"  p.  476. 


468 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  rXOCKESS 


lation  u  the  result  of  good  government,  and  better  social  and  unitary 
conditions,  is  so  marked  as  to  suggest  problems  not  free  fiom  anxiety 
to  its  rulers. 

In  tropical  Africa  a  service  which  pro  uses  to  be  of  great  value  not 
only  to  missionaries  and  merchants  resi  iing  there,  but  to  the  vast 

native  population  as  well,  is  the  recent  appointment 

my  ".Mo'*u-' AflkM     ^^  !***  ^"'''''^  Government  of  an  expert  commission 

ftvara.  to  investigate  the  mysterious  black-water  fever, 

so  fatal  to  Europeans  in  Africa,  Missionary  rep- 
resentation had  a  share,  at  least,  in  securing  this  action  on  the  part  of 
the  authorities,  the  British  Medical  Association  joining  in  the  appeal 
by  passing  a  resolution  urging  upon  the  Government  the  desirability 
of  such  an  investigation.  These  commissioners  are  to  meet  at  Blan. 
tyre,  a  mission  station  in  British  Central  Africa,  and  let  us  hope  that 
their  labors  will  result  in  the  discovery  of  such  remedies  as  will  prove 
a  blessing  to  coming  generations  in  Africa.'  The  proposed  School 
for  the  Study  of  Tropical  Diseases,  about  to  be  established  in  Liver- 
pool by  the  British  Colonial  Office,  may  prove  of  value  to  missionaries, 
as  well  as  to  physicians  who  are  preparing  to  practise  in  the  tropical 
colonies  of  Great  Britain.^ 


15.  Mitigating  THB  Brutalities  or  War.— Fierce  and  cruel 
passions  are  excited  by  war,  so  that  even  the  minimum  of  suflFering 

which  the  powerful  restraints  of  civilization  and 

^of  ?hri.tu'"  om."    ^^^  *'*""  instincts  of  humanity  have  been  able  to 

pmaaion.  secure  is  still  appalling  in  its  extent  and  severity. 

In  the  bloody  conflicts  of  barbarous  nations  or 
savage  tribes,  where  these  modifying  influences  have  not  been  exerted, 
ghastly  brutality  has  characterized  strife.  Even  in  modern  times  we 
find  little,  if  any,  improvement  in  the  spirit  and  methods  of  heathen 
warfare.  The  stories  of  Asiatic  and  African  struggles  between  nati\e 
races  within  the  present  century  would  not  differ  essentially  from  those 
of  the  great  pagan  nations  of  antiquity.  To  a  certain  extent  the  cus- 
toms of  Western  civilization  may  have  been  introduced  in  connection 
with  colonization,  but  at  the  same  time  deadlier  weapons  have  been 
put  into  the  hands  of  natives,  or  used  against  them,  without  their  rec- 
ognition of  the  obligation  of  mercy  towards  non-combatants  and  those 
who  are  sick  and  wounded.     Turkey  and  Persia,  in  Western  Asia,  and 

'    The  Missionary  Record,  October,  1898,  p.  289. 

a  The  Times  (London),  November  la,  1898,  and  March  11,  1899. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


460 


Th«  n«w 

humanltarianitm  in 

Japan. 


China,  in  th«  Far  Eait,  fairly  repretent  the  methodt  of  warfare  which 
prevail  throughout  that  Continent,  except  where  Western  rule  has  in- 
sisted upon  the  modem  code.    The  ordinary  accompanimenu  of  con- 
flict in  Africa  are  appallingly  represented  by  the  barbarities  of  the 
Mohammedan  nations  (except  Egypt)  along  its  northern  shores,  and 
by  the  bloodthirsty  fierceness  of  its  interior  tribes.     Missions  as  yet 
have  been  able  to  modify  but  slightly,  and  only  indirectly,  these  sad 
and  dreadful  aspects  of  unciviliied  strife;  but  where  the  Christian 
spirit  has  entered  it  has  shown,  as  in  all  international  history,  its  readi- 
ness to  challenge  and  condemn  all  needless  cruelty,  and  its  power  to  create 
a  nobler  sentiment  in  favor  of  humane  regulations  and  saving  ministry.' 
It  is  perhaps  not  desirable  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  argument  to 
put  forward  too  exclusive  a  claim  for  Christianity  as  the  source  of  the 
new  spirit  manifested  by  Japan  in  conducting  her 
recent  war  with  China.     It  is,  however,  a  conten- 
tion which  is  well  within  the  bounds  of  probability, 
and  supported  by  evidence  worthy  of  confidence, 
that  Christian  principles,  with  their  mysterious  power  to  mould  public 
opinion,  have  influenced  in  a  forcible  and  decisive  way  the  leaders 
of  the  New  Japan.     The  desire  of  the  Japanese  Government  and  peo- 
ple to  enter  the  ranks  of  civilization  and  command  the  respect  of 
Western  nations  is  no  doubt  also  a  factor  in  the  case.     Its  participa- 
tion since  1886  in  that  great  international  agreement  represented  by  the 
Red  Cross,  made  all  the  more  impressive  by  the  fact  that,  in  1 889,  the 
Emperor  himself  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  national  society  formed 
by  the  Japanese,  also  represents  a  commanding  influence  in  favor  of 
humanitarianism.     An  independent  national  association,  identical  in  its 
purpose,  had  been  formed  in  iSyy.bysomeof  the  leading  spirits  of  Japan, 
even  earlier  than  the  acceptance  of  the  Red  Cross  Convention.     This 
organization  was  known  by  its  Japanese  title,  "  Hakuaisha  "  ("  Society 
of  Benevolence"), and  during  a  civil  insiurection  then  raging  it  minis- 
tered in  a  spirit  of  compassion  to  the  sick  and  wounded  on  both  sides. 
It  was  afterwards  (1886)  united  with  the  Red  Cross  Society  of  Japan.' 
The  International  Society  of  the  Red  Cross,  while  not  in  any  insistent 
or  exclusive  sense  Christian,  is  nevertheless  based  upon  essentially 


»  Cf.  Storrs,  "  The  Divine  Origin  of  Chrittianity,"  Lrcture  VI.,  on  "  The  New 
Conception  of  the  Duties  of  Nations  towards  Each  Other,"  for  a  luminous  exposi- 
tion  of  the  modifying  power  of  Christianity  upon  warfare.  Cf.  also  Schmidt,  "  The 
Social  Results  of  Early  Christianity,"  pp.  276-289. 

«  The  Japan  Evangelist,  k^xW,  1895,  p.  207;  The  Missionary  Herald,  July, 
1895,  p.  290. 


MICROCOPY    RESOIUTION   TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No   2) 


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^S  (''^^    *92  -  0300  -  Phone 

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470 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


.i' 


H  \ 


Christian  principles  and  inspired  by  Christ-like  motives.  It  is  true 
that  in  joining  it  no  nation  makes  a  profession  of  Christianity,  but 
simply  agrees  to  adopt  the  creed  and  practice  of  a  broad  humani- 
tarianism  in  deahng  with  the  sick  and  wounded  of  either  party ;  yet 
this  policy  of  compassion  to  enemies  is  distinctively  Christian  in  its 
spirit  and  aims.  The  systematic  and  organized  effort  to  provide  relief 
for  suffering  not  only  in  war,  but,  as  the  broader  code  of  Red  Cross 
service  stipulates,  to  arrange  also  for  ministry  and  help  to  victims  of 
pestilence  and  public  calamities  in  general,  is  historically  an  outcome 
of  the  Christian  religion.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Japan  accepted  what 
is  known  as  the  American  amendment,  giving  this  more  general  scope 
to  the  Red  Cross  service,  and  that  at  the  present  time  there  are  in  the 
empire  one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  Japanese  members  of  the 
society,  and  several  fine  hospitals  devoted  to  Red  Cross  purposes. 

While  considerations  like  those  just  noted  should  not  be  ignored  or 

minimized,  yet  it  would  be  an  unwarranted  assumption  to  claim  that 

they  represent  all  the  factors  in  the  case.    Whence 

How  far  it  Japanese  hu- has    comc    this   new    rcspect    of   the   Japanese 

manitarianism  trace-      ,  .....  .i-j-^u  »j 

abietomisiiona?  fo""  Civilization,  and  this  desire  to  be  counted 
worthy  of  a  place  among  those  nations  of  the 
earth  included  under  the  collective  name  of  Christendom?  Whence 
this  awakening  of  humane  aspirations,  and  this  zealous  effort  to  adopt 
and  practise  nobler  methods  of  warfare?  Is  it  possible  to  eliminate 
altogether  the  influence  of  Christianity  in  accounting  for  these  things? 
Missionary  instruction  for  over  a  generation  has  been  working  like 
leaven  in  Japanese  thought.  The  leading  minds  of  the  country  have 
acknowledged  the  power  of  Christian  teaching,  and  some  of  them  have 
openly  accepted  Christianity,  while  others  have  rendered  their  homage 
to  it  in  secret.  Ml  have  felt,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  its  perva- 
sive and  weighty  influence  over  the  better  nature,  and  its  incitement  to 
nobler  ways  of  living.  Whatever  measure  of  reserve  it  may  be  proper 
to  maintain  in  publicly  claiming  for  Christian  missions  the  credit  of 
developing  Japanese  humanitarianism,  there  is  good  reason  for  the 
friends  of  that  enterprise  to  cherish  a  sober  and  happy  assurance  that 
God  has  used  the  introduction  of  Christianity  to  mould  public  opinion 
and  give  to  the  Japanese  a  new  vision  of  those  things  which  truly 
exalt  a  nation. * 

I  The  following  order,  issued  September  22,  1894,  by  Count  Oyama,  Minister  of 
State  for  War,  is  worthy  of  a  place  of  high  honor  in  the  modern  history  of  Eastern 
nations.  It  contains  instructions  to  the  Japanese  army  upon  the  nduct  of  the  war 
with  China,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  Belligerent  operations  being  properly  confined  to  the  military  and  naval  forces 


^1! 


i'^^i'l 


|/i 


o 
X 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


471 


The  Rev  David  S.  Spencer,  of  Nagoya,  a  missionary  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  writes  to  the  author:   "Brutality  in  war  ,s  a 
thing  of  the  past  with  ^^e  Japanese^    No  one       ^ 
point  in  the  recent  sad  conflict  with  China  gave   ,^,„„,^„  d„id.  the 
more  pleasure  to  the  real  friends  of  Japan  than  ,u..tion. 

did  the  spirit  she  exhibited  towards  the  con- 
auered  In  the  hospitals  the  Chinese  sick  and  wounded  lay  side  b> 
side  wiih  the  Japanese,receiving  treatment  from  the  same  physicians  and 
nurses,  who  all  wore  the  Red  Cross  uniform,  showing  the  orga« 
they  represented.  The  treatment  of  prisoners  was  kind  and  generous. 
ThI  men  had  the  same  food  as  the  Japanese  soldiers  in  the  barracks. 
and  a  real  interest  in  their  personal  and  moral  welfare  was  manife  .ed  by 
the  Japanese  officers  in  charge.  When  the  time  came  for  them  to  be 
sent  home,  many  begged  to  be  allowed  to  stay.     This  chapter  in  the 

actually  engaged,  and  there  being  no  reason  whatever  for  enmity  between  '^ff^^f^^ 
£.ue  tS  countries  are  at  war.  the  common  principles  of  human.ty  chelate  tha 
^c^our  and  rescue  should  be  extended  even  to  those  of  the  enemy  s  forces  who  are 
Zbled  eUher  by  wounds  or  disease.     In  obedience  to  these  prmcples.  cv.lued 
„at  o  s  in    me  of  ^^^^^^    enter  into  conventions  to  mutually  assist  disabled  persons  m 
Sme  o    wl  .  without  distinction  of  friend  or  foe.     This  humane  un.on  .s  caUed  the 
Geneva  Convention,  or  more  commonly  the  Red  Cross  Association.     J^P-  became 
a  pa  ty  to  it7n  June.  .886.  and  her  soldiers  ha-e  already  been  instructed  that  they 
are  bound  to  treat  ;ith  kindness  and  helpfulness  such  of  their  enem.es  as  may  be 
;  labled  by  wounds  or  disease.     China  not  having  joined  any  such  Convent.on   . 
t  no    fble  that  her  soldie.s.  ignorant  of  these  enlightened  prmoples.  may  subjeU 
disered  or  wounded  Japanese  to  merciless  treatment.     Against  such  contmgenc.e, 
tTa^anese  troops  must  be  on  their  guard.     But  at  the  same  time  they  must  ne^r 
fo  get  that,  however  cruel  and  vindictive  the  foe  may  show  h.mself.  he  must  never- 
theSs  be  treated  in  accordance  with  the  acknowledged  rules  of  c.v.hzafon ;  h.s 
disabled  succoured,  his  captured  kindly  and  considerately  protected. 

"It  is  not  alon;  to  those  disabled  by  v  ounds  or  sickness  that  meroful  and  gentle 

treatment  should  be  extended.     Similar  treatment  is  also  due  to  those  who  offer  no 

estrance  to  our  arms.     Even  the  body  .<  a  dead  enemy  should  be  treatecl  wuh 

spcr  We  cannot  too  much  admire  the  course  pursued  by  a  certam  NUstern 

country  which  in  handing  over  an  enemy's  general  complied  .  th  ^H  the  nte.  and 

ceremonies  suitable  to  the  rank  of  the  captive.     Japanese  -''''"^  ^^^'^^^^^^ 

bear  in  mind  the  gracious  benevolence  of  their  august  Sovereign,  and  should  not 

be  more  anxious  to  display  courage  than  charity.    ^"^^^  "^^^^  ^^V"" ^^^^^r. 

to  afford  practical  proof  of  the  value  they  attach  to  these  prmc.ples.    -Quoted  from 

ThtJatan  Daily  Mail,  in  The  Japan  Evangelist,  October.  1894,  pp.  59.^o- 

cfrlo  the  following  sources  for  admirable  articles  showing  the  fide hty  of  t  e 
Japanese,  as  a  rule,  in  observing  these  principles  :  "  Japan'.  ^Var  Record  by  he 
Rev  J.  H.  De  Forest.  D.D..  in  The  Golden  Rule,  February  7,  i895  :  l-V^^^^^ 
the  United  States:  A  Contrast."  by  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Davis  D.D  -  ^^'^"' J" 
tenden.,  February  14.  .895  i  "  Japa^se  Women  and  the  War."  by  M.ss  Ume  Tsuda, 
in  The  Independent,  May  9.  1895. 


472 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


mnSn 

li 

nHB 

Pi 

1 

W? 

1 

14 

ii^ 

1 

Ht 

history  of  modem  Japan  is  highly  encouraging,  and  in  it  the  Christian 
worker  glories,  whether  he  be  native  or  foreign.  The  sense  of  joy  is 
heightened  when  we  hear  many  Japanese,  from  officers  to  coolies,  at- 
tribute this  grand  moral  victory  to  the  influence  of  Christianity  among 
them.  With  what  pride  do  our  Christians  point  to  the  Red  Cross 
work  as  a  result  of  our  blessed  religion ! " 

The  testimony  of  another  eye-witness  comes  from  the  Rev.  Henry 

Loomis,  the  agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society  in  Yokohama.     His 

statement  is  as  follows:    "Within  the  past  two 

The  be»t "  open-door    months  I  have  visited  the  principal  military  hospi- 

''°  p"i^  E««t.  *  ta's,  and  found  the  sick  and  wounded  Chinese 
prisoners  receiving  the  same  treatment  as  the 
Japanese."  The  Rev.  Thomas  T.  Alexander,  of  the  American  Pres- 
byterian Mission,  Tokyo,  thus  expresses  his  judgment :  "  No  discus- 
sion of  this  subject  can  be  closed  without  reference  to  the  enlightened 
and  humane  policy  of  Japan  in  the  conduct  of  the  war  with  China. 
This  policy  is  not  only  a  pleasant  surprise  to  everybody,  but  it  is  a 
revelation  to  the  majority  of  the  Japanese  people  themselves.  Such 
treatment  of  one's  enemies  is  unheard  of  in  the  annals  of  war  in  these 
Eastern  lands.  The  question  naturally  comes  to  their  minds,  '  Why 
this  change? '  That  it  is  not  wholly  due  to  material  and  secular  causes 
is  plain  to  every  intelligent  observer.  The  consequence  is  that  the 
thoughts  of  the  people  are  being  turned  to  Christianity,  and  that  the 
military  authorities  gladly  encourage  and  assist  in  the  distribution  of 
the  Scriptures  among  the  soldiers.  Many  thousand  copies  of  the  Bible, 
or  portions  of  it,  have  thus  been  circulated  within  the  last  month  among 
a  class  of  men  who  hitherto  have  for  the  most  part  been  guarded  care- 
fully against  Christian  influences."  ^ 

1  The  following  additional  statements  have  been  received  by  the  author  directly 
from  missionaries  in  Japan : 

"  The  working  of  the  Red  Cross  Society  and  its  beneficent  labors  in  connection 
with  the  recent  war  between  China  and  Japan  are  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
hopeful  signs  of  the  times.  The  barbarities  of  war  have  been  much  lessened,  and 
the  amenities  of  life  have  been  greatly  increased,  by  the  incoming  of  the  Christian 
religion.  All  thoughtful  and  sensible  people  admit  this."— Rev.  Julius  Soper 
(M.  E.  M.  S.),  Hakodate. 

"  Much  might  be  said  about  the  conduct  of  the  recent  war,  which  was  upon  the 
most  approved,  modern,  civilized,  and,  if  you  please,  Christian  principles.  It 
would  not  be  possible  to  prove  that  missions  have  had  no  influence  in  bringing 
about  this  condition  of  affairs.  There  are  certainly  not  a  few  men  in  both  branches 
of  the  service  who  are  Christians.  There  are  churches  at  each  of  the  three  naval 
stations.  And  who  can  know  what  influences  are  exerted  by  the  Christian  work 
done  in  the  barracks  and  hospitals  at  Hiroshima,  the  temporary  capital  and  point  of 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS   OF  MISSIOXS 


473 


The  sympathies  of  Japanese  Christians  have  been  especially  enlisted 
on  behalf  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  in  helping  the  needy  familits 
of  absent  soldiers.     In  Hiroshima,  an    nny  and 
navy  centre,  the  Christian  community  organized     An  "Army  Comfort 

.       .,    .  ,  ,1    J  .,»/?,  Society "  in  the  land  of 

Itself  mto  what  was  called  an  Army  Comfort  the  "Mimixuk*." 
Society,"  which  worked  heartily  for  both  the  phys- 
ical and  spiritual  benefit  of  the  soldiers.  This  society  received  sup- 
port also  from  Christians  elsewhere,  and  was  regarded  with  favor  by 
government  officials,*  The  striking  contrast  of  all  this  with  former 
methods  of  warfare  practised  by  the  Japanese  is  illustrated  by  an  in- 
cident which  at  the  time  so  stirred  the  feelings  of  the  nation  as  to  secure 
a  commemorative  tomb  of  stone  at  Kyoto,  known  as  "  Mimizuka,"  or 
the  Ear  Monument.  This  memorial  was  erected  on  a  mound  over  the 
buried  ears  which  the  Japanese  had  cut  from  thousands  of  vanquished 
Koreans  and  brought  home  as  trophies  of  their  victories  in  Korea 
some  three  centuries  ago.^  The  policy  of  mutilation  has  been  sup- 
planted by  that  of  humane  consideration  for  vanquished  enemies. 

In  China  also,  through  the  initiative  and  practical  aid  of  mission- 
aries, some  Red  Cross  work  was  inaugurated  during  the  recent  war 
with  Japan.      The  characteristic  verdict  of  the 
Chinese  authorities  was  that  nothing  of  the  kind     pioneers  of  the  Red 
was  needed,  certainly  not  for  their  enemies,  nor        ^"** '"  China, 
indeed  for  their  own  suffering  soldiers,  who  when 
wounded  or  sick  were  condemned  as  useless.'     Dr.  Dugald  Christie 
reports  the  establishment  of  a  Red  Cross  hospital  at  Newchwang,  in 
December,  1894.* 

contact  with  the  seat  of  war?    Also,  who  can  tell  how  much  the  brilliant  career  of 
Field-Marshal  Yamagata  reflects  what  he  has  seen  and  admired  in  his  earnest  Chris- 
tian wife?"  — Rev.  Henry  Stout,  D.D.  (Ref.  C.  A.),  Nagasaki. 
1   The  Missionary,  April,  1895,  p.  164. 

*  Grifiis,  "The  Mikado's  Empire,"  p.  245;  Chamberlain,  "A  Handbook  for 
Travellers  in  Japan,"  third  edition,  p.  301. 

'  Cf.  Volume  I.,  p.  171. 

*  Dr.  Christie  writes  concerning  this  Red  Cross  effort  as  follows  :  "  The  need 
of  such  work  became  more  and  more  apparent.  One  of  the  most  deplorable  features 
of  this  war  is  that  practically  no  provision  is  made  for  the  wounded  by  the  Chinese 
military  authorities.  There  are  neither  ambulance  corps  -..^r  medical  olTiccrs  in  the 
army,  and  when  a  man  is  wounded,  he  is  usually  left  to  die  on  the  field,  or  escape 
as  best  he  can.  Many  hundreds  must  have  succumbed  to  exposure  and  neglect 
whose  lives  could  have  been  saved  had  they  been  properly  cared  for.  The  news 
of  the  opening  of  our  hospital  spread  rapidly  through  tiic  army,  and  the  patients 
whom  we  discharged  cured  did  much  to  establish  the  confidence  of  the  soldiers  in 
foreign  treatment."— 7y/f  Missionary  Record,  July,  1895,  p.  207. 


\  s\ 


il'l 


474 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


The  older  mission  records  of  work  in  various  fields  yield  facts  which 
are  of  significance  as  revealing  the  practical  influence  of  missionaries 

in  checking  the  cruelties  which  were  customary 
The  wrvieci  of  early  features  of  warfare.  In  Persia  the  wild  Kurdish 
r..t Tiining  mM.«cre.    chiefs  held  the  early  missionaries  in  such  esteem  that 

through  their  interposition  the  wholesale  massacre 
of  entire  communities  was  averted.i  In  Syria,  during  the  civil  wars  of 
Mount  Lebanon,  especially  in  i860,  the  h'-mcs  of  missionaries  were 
places  of  refuge  and  safety,  and  their  intervention  saved  multitudes 
from  being  put  to  the  sword.^  Further  illustrations  might  be  quoted 
concerning  Dr.  Moffat's  "exertion  to  prevent  the  Bechuanas  from  tak- 
ing fearful  vengeance  on  the  wounded,"  ^  and  the  exceptional  behavior 
of  the  Malagasy,  under  their  Christian  Queen  Ranavalona  II.,  in  the 
war  of  1874.*  The  good  Queen  established  during  her  reign  a  branch 
Society  of  the  Red  Cross,  and  favored  its  activities  even  in  the  case  of 
the  native  allies  of  the  French.^  In  the  recent  war  with  France  the 
Christian  women  of  Madagascar  were  most  active  in  ministering  to  the 

soldiers. 

Previous  statements  made  in  other  sections  concerning  the  influence 
of  missions  in  hastening  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade,  in  abolishing 
cannibalism  and  human  sacrifices,— all  of  which  have  been  incidental 
features  of  tribal  conflicts,— might  also  be  put  in  evidence  here  as  show 
ing  the  manifest  tendency  of  Christian  teaching  to  mitigate  in  many 
important  respects  the  deplorable  features  of  savage  warfare. 

1  Laurie,  "  Missions  and  Science"  (The  Ely  Volume),  revised  edition,  p.  477. 

2  "  In  the  following  spring,  when  the  Druses  attacked  the  Maronites  of  Abeih, 
Dr.  W.  M.  Thomson,  at  no  little  personal  risk,  effected  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
between  the  Maronites,  in  the  strong  castle  of  one  of  their  leaders,  and  the  Druses, 
who  would  soon  have  starved  them  out  or  stormed  their  stronghold.  Nor  did  he 
cease  his  good  offices  till  he  saw  them  safe  on  their  way  to  Beirut  under  the  protec 
tion  of  the  British  consul-general. 

"  It  was  a  c_rious  illustration  of  the  power  of  missionaries  for  good  that,  in  a 
later  war  between  the  same  parties  in  the  same  locality,  the  house  of  the  Rev.  S.  H. 
Cilhoun  was  filled  for  six  months  with  the  silver  ornaments  and  other  precious 
things  of  the  Maronites,  left  there  without  either  receipt  or  written  pledge  of  any 
sort,  to  save  them  from  the  Druses ;  and  no  sooner  did  the  appearance  of  French 
sliips  of  war  in  the  harbor  of  Beirut  embolden  their  owners  to  take  them  away,  than 
the  Druse  women  hastened  to  deposit  their  valuables  in  the  same  place  of  safety, 
fearing  the  retribution  which  might  follow.  They  who  thus  equally  command  the 
confidence  of  opposite  parties  in  a  civil  war  cannot  but  greatly  alleviate  its  horrors, 
and  be  sources  of  great  temporal  blessings  to  all  around  them."— /*/'</.,  p.  477. 

3  Home,  "  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  83. 

♦  Townsend,  "  Madagascar:  Its  Missionaries  and  Martyrs,"  p.  151. 

=  Nuble,  "  The  Redemption  of  Africa,"  p.  282. 


'HI 


:H1 


Ijfl 


S2      S 


IB* 

rt  — 

■7.  -J 
If 

■r  e 


O 


1::  ''■ 

■§.s  y 

Hi  u  a 
i-2 


niE  SOCIAL   KESVLTS  Oh   A//S.S70.\S 


475 


1 5.   Instillino  a  Peacf.aiile  and  Law- Abiding  Siirit- Wher- 
ever Christian  converts  have  been  won  and  gathered  into  cliiirchcs, 
they  form  peaceable  and  law-abiding  communities ; 
this  is  their  reputation  both  as  individuals  and  as  Pt««bi.  eommunitu. 
a  class.     It  is  not  meant,  of  course,  that  they  are  miMioni. 

perfect,  and  free  from  all  tendencies  to  alienation 
and  strife,  but  that,  as  a  rule,  they  seek  to  live  in  harmony,  are  not 
revengeful,  respect  mutual  rights,  obey  the  laws,  favor  peace  rather 
than  war,  and  the  pursuit  of  honest  industries  rather  than  plunder  and 
rapine,  while  in  their  social  environment  they  constitute  a  leaven  of 
good  citizenthip. 

This  is  noticeable  even  among  savage  races,  where  turbulence  and 
lawlessness  have  been  the  rule.    The  very  idea  of  responsible  citizenship 
has  come  with  Christian  teaching.    Testimonies  to 
this  effect  are  not  wanting  from  those  who  have    ^j,*;:.^-;,'*';:'.;':"  °J 
had  opportunities  of  personal  observation  in  Africa         tranquillity, 
or  elsewhere.*     Major  J.  R.  L.  Macdonald,  R.E., 
in  referring  to  the  development  of  peaceful  civilization  in  Uganda, 
remarks  that  "  a  large  share  in  its  accomplishment  is  undoubtedly  due 
to  the  patient  toil  of  the  Christian  missionaries."  -     Sir  Harry  Smith,  a 
former  Governor  of  Kaffraria,  declared  that  "  the  frontier  would  be 
better  guarded  by  nine  mission  stations  than  by  nine  military  posts."  ^ 
Mr.  Joseph  Thomson,  the  well-known  African  explorer,  in  a  lecture 
before  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  London,  speaks  in  terms  of 
admiration  of  the  moral  influence  of  the  Scoi.:h  missionaries  in  Nyassa- 

i  See  Liggins,  "  The  Great  Value  and  Succ^      ji  ►'*< '       Missions,"  pp.  32,  33. 
»  Macdonald,  "  Soldiering  and  Surveying  in  Brillte     iast  Africa,   1891-94," 

p.  143-  ,       ^ 

Major  Macdonald  was  the  Chief  p:ngineer  of  tli?-  prr'^iinary  survf  t   for  the 

-^-ablish       n!    jf  the 

ties  l'  speak  ad- 

f       douht  as  to  his 

influence  of  the 

~    iiuost  incredible. 

.fe  was  rated  at  the 

justice  went  to  the 

tflily  improving  in 

r    -=»rty  or  his  life  at 


Uganda  Railway,  and  was  Acting  Commissioner  l>efor* 
British  Protectorate.     He  had,  therefore,  the  best  .' 
visedly  upon  the  subject  of  missions.     His  words  Its 
favorable  opinion.     He  writes:   "  The  effect  that  educa 
missionaries  have  had  on  this  intelligent  and  powerful  |-. 
.    .    .    Instead  of  a  savage  heathen  kingdom,  where  a  man 
price  of  an  ox,  and  a  woman  was  an  article  of  barter,  and  wh 
highest  bidder,  the  Uganda  of  to-day  is  a  well-ordered  State 
the  arts  of  civilisation  and  culture,  where  no  man  can  lose  hit  (; 
the  arbitrary  will  of  the  prcat,  or  without  a  fair  and  open  'riai 
small  thing  to  have  achieved,  and  a  large  share  in  its  accompli***. 
due  to  the  patient  toil  of  the  Christian  missionaries,  who  have  a<lh  >• 
their  self-imposed  task  through  the  stormy  times  of  war  and  thro*|; 
of  persecution."— /*;■(/.,  pp.  143,  144. 

3  Tliompson,  "  Moravian  Missions,"  p.  401. 


his  a: 


-  '•  IS  no 
«lly 
^'aa{iy  to 
'^  d»' 


476 


Ct/KJSTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  P/tOCRESS 


m 


land,  e»perially  in  leading  turbulent  tribes  into  the  paths  of  peaceful  in- 
dustry.' The  services  of  the  Rev.  P.  Hargreaves,  a  missionary  of  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  of  South  Africa  in  i'undoland,  as  a  peace- 
maker and  counsellor  of  the  natives  when  tempted  to  war,  are  acknow- 
ledged with  appreciation  in  the  public  journals  of  Cape  Colony,  and 
upon  two  distinct  occasions  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  Cape  Gov- 
ernment for  his  mcdiation.3  The  influence  of  Khama,  the  Christian 
chief  of  the  Bamangwatos,  has  been  recognized  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment, "Out  of  the  ruins  of  anarchy,  lawlessness,  and  general  dis- 
order," wrote  the  late  Rev.  J.  D.  Hepburn,  "he  has  been  building  up 
law,  order,  and  stability." ' 

Within  the  sphere  of  the  Mission  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Scotland  in  KafFraria,  the  "  orderly  and  peaceful  behavior  and  the 
Christian  fidelity  of  the  converts  "  in  times  of  political  upheaval  and 
warfare  have  been  noticeable  in  repeated  instances.  In  connection 
with  the  uprising  of  1851-53,  it  is  stated  that,  "  with  the  exception  of 
the  Christian  converts,  almost  the  whole  of  the  Kaffirs  took  part  in  the 
war."  *  A  recent  visitor  at  a  Moravian  mission  station  about  eighty 
miles  from  Capetown,  where  there  is  a  native  community  of  three 
thousand,  comments  upon  the  fact  that  "  there  is  but  one  policeman  at 
Genadendal,  and  he  is  also  the  postmaster,  which  will  show  the  char- 
acteristic quiet  of  the  settlement."  * 

Another  striking  illustration  is  presented  in  the  Siory  of  the  trans- 
formation of  the  Angoni,  those  inveterate  warriors  and  marauders  of 
British  Central  Africa,  into  a  peaceful,  law-abid- 
warriori  and         jpg  people.     They  found  their  way  some  seventy 
t^'p"c«fui*uriuiiu.    years  ago  from  Matabeleland  to  Lake  Nyassa, 
bent  upon  rapine  and  plunder,  and  have  since  been 
the  terror  of  the  whole  country  west  of  Lakes  Tanganyika  and  Nyassa, 
until  the  Scotch  missionaries  won  them  over  to  peaceful  pursuits,  and 

I   The  Missionary  Record,  January,  1893,  p.  24. 

«  Work  and  Workers  in  the  Miss, on  Field,  September,  1894,  p.  368;  October, 
1894,  p.  406. 

>  Hepburn,  "  Twenty  Years  in  Khama  i  Country,"  p.  IM. 

The  Rev.  Brownlee  J.  Ross  (F.  C.  S.),  cf  Cunningham,  Transkei,  South  Africa, 
writes  to  the  author  as  follows:  "  I  think  it  is  quite  the  fact,  among  the  South 
African  tribes,  that  Christianity  is  the  first  and  strongest  agent  in  enabling  them  to 
rise  above  the  clan  and  tribe  feeling.  It  gives  them  their  first  idea  of  the  value  of 
man  as  man.  It  alone  seems  able  to  make  them  feel  what  philanthropy  is,  and  so 
leads  on  to  the  giving  up  of  intertribal  hatred  and  jealousy.  They  argue  that  Chris- 
tianity must  be  supernatural,  for  it  alone  can  bring  men  of  different  clans  and  tribes 
together  in  peace  and  friendship." 

«  Slowan,  "  The  Story  of  Our  Kaffrarian  Mission,"  pp.  35,  40,  109. 

*  Service  for  the  King,  April,  1896,  p.  79. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


I 


reaped  among  them  a  Christian  harvest  of  astonishing  fr  ■,tfultie«».' 
Similar  reports  are  at  hand  concerning  tlie  work  of  the  Church  of  btut- 
land  missionaries  among  the  tribes  of  Lomweland,  and  the  efforts  of 
the  Universities'  Mission  among  the  Yaos. 

In  the  region  of  the  Upper  Zambesi,  to  the  west  of  British  Central 
Africa,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  warlike  Barotsi,  a  war 
which  was  about  to  be  commenced  with  a  neighboring  tribe  has 
been  prevented,  through  the  intervention  of  M.  Jalla,  a  missionary 
of  the  French  Evangelical  Society.^  Of  the  late  Mr.  George  L. 
Pilkington,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  Captain  Charles  H.  Vil- 
liers,  of  the  Royal  Horse  Guards,  who  served  under  Sir  Gerald  Tortal 
in  Uganda,  writes:  "  He  accompanied  the  Waganda,  at  their  special 
request,  as  their  chaplain  on  the  Onyoro  expedition,  living  with  them 
throughout  the  entire  campaign,  and  was  the  cause  of  their  abandon- 
ing all  their  former  ideas  of  warfare,  and  behaving  as  well  as  civilized 
troops." '  The  Christian  King  of  Toro,  on  the  western  borders  of 
Uganda,  who  has  been  mentioned  on  page  i6  of  this  volume,  makes  a 
significant  statement  in  a  letter  dated  September  14,  1898,  and  ad- 
dressed to  the  Secretaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  In  the 
true  spirit  of  Christianity,  he  seems  to  rejoice  in  the  tranquillity  through, 
out  his  realm,  when  he  writes :  "  And  also,  my  friends,  I  thank  you  for 
praying  to  God  to  keep  us  in  these  great  wars,  because  war  had  sur- 
rounded the  whole  country,  but  at  our  place  we  remain  at  peace,  right 
up  to  the  present  time  we  are  at  peace."*  In  the  Life  of  Bishop 
Smythies,  late  of  the  Universities'  Mission  to  Central  Africa,  there  are 
many  instances  recorded  of  successful  peacemaking  on  the  part  of  the 
B'shop  between  hostile  African  chiefs.  His  influence,  and  also  the  re- 
spect which  his  goodness  of  character  and  dignified  presence  called 
forth,  were  so  great  that  he  was  able  upon  frequent  occasions  to  pre- 
vent wa*-  and  reconcile  bloodthirsty  enemies.* 

In  West  Africa  the  missionaries  in  Old  Calabar  have  been  mes- 
sengers of  concord,  where  there  was  formeriy  perpetual  strife  between 
native  tribes.  "  Were  we  ever  before  so  long  without  killing  peo- 
ple as  since  you  came?"  remarked  the  Buli  to  the  late  Dr.  A. 
C.   Good,  who  had  opened  a  pioneer  station  among  that  interior 

1  The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Monthly,  September,  1897,  p.  212,  September, 
1898,  p.  222;  Medical  Missions  at  Home  and  Abroad,  February,  1896,  pp.  76,  77; 
"  Foreign  Mission  Report  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  1896,"  p.  87;  Noble, 
"  The  Redemption  of  Africa,"  pp.  340,  341. 

*  The  Missionary  Record,  April,  1898,  p.  131. 
I  7Vi^  il/aiV  (London),  January  12,  1898. 

«   The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  January,  1899,  p.  149. 

•  Central  Africa,  February,  1899,  p.  19. 


478 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


I--* 


tribe.'     An  incident  mentioned  in  the  "  Report  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Missionary  Society  for  1895"  (p.  25),  referring  to  its  missions 
on  the  West  Coast,  is  worthy  of  record  as  showing 
N.tivechri.ti.niitrive  true  courage  and  a  desire  for  peace  on  the  part  of 

to  promote  peace.  native  Christians.  The  account  is  as  follows :  "  The 
Barraka  nation  has  been  engaged  in  war  with  a  con- 
tiguous nation  for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  It  is  not  their  custom  to 
march  in  a  solid  body  and  fight  it  out,  but  they  waylay  small  parties  on 
their  farms,  and  the  women  when  gathering  wood  and  carrying  water  are 
butchered  in  cold  blood.  To  cross  the  boundary  lines  between  the  hostile 
parties  is  death.  But  Jasper,  one  of  our  native  local  preachers  at  Barraka, 
received  a  commission  from  God,  about  a  year  ago,  to  cross  the  death- 
line  alone,  and  go  straight  to  the  king  of  the  belligerent  nation.  He 
immediately  obeyed  orders,  and  told  the  king  that  God  had  sent  him  to 
see  him,  and  to  ask  him  to  assign  a  house  in  which  he  and  half  a  dozen 
of  his  fellow-Christians  from  Barraka  might  pray  to  the  God  that  made 
tlie  heavens  for  him  and  his  people.  The  king  received  him  kindly 
and  granted  his  request ;  and  at  the  time  appointed  Jasper  and  his  band 
of  praying  men  assembled  in  the  house  assigned,  and  commenced  their 
work— the  reconciliation  of  two  heathen  nations  that  had  been  at  war 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  After  they  had  prayed  a  few  nights, 
Jasper  submitted  another  proposition  to  the  king,  requesting  him  to 
order  a  peace  palaver  to  be  held  each  day  in  conjunction  with  the 
prayers  of  each  night.  The  king  consented,  and  issued  an  order  for  the 
assembling  of  his  councilors.  Jasper's  band  prayed  twenty-eight  nights 
(on  two  or  three  occasions  they  prayed  all  night),  until  a  permanent 
peace  was  effected  between  the  two  belligerent  nations,  and  now  they 
are  hand  and  glove  in  mutual  attachment." 

The  South  Sea  Islands  were  once  scenes  of  ferocious  tribal  wars,^ 

with  hardly  a  year  of  continuous  quiet,  but  many  of  them  are  now  the 

homes  of  peaceful  communities.    Professor  David, 

^^^x^^'d^l^l^^'^^^  of  Sydney,  in  a  recent  address  at  a  missionary  meet- 

poHcy  of  mutual  de-     j^g  in  New  South  Wales,  Australia,  has  given  his  im- 
s  ruci    .  pressions  of  the  value  of  mission  efforts  in  the  South 

Seas,  having  just  returned  from  a  tour  among  the  islands,  during  which  he 
came  in  contact  with  the  work  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  His 
remarks  are  full  of  pointed  testimonies  to  the  civilizing  power  of  mis- 
sions.  Aconcluding  sentence  summarizes  his  judgment  as  follows:  "The 


1   Woman's  Work  for  Woman,  June,  1894,  p.  I48. 
*  Stair,  "  Old  Samoa,"  pp.  242-258. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIOXS 


479 


!j 


I 


result  of  the  work  of  the  London  Society  has  been  that  it  has  brought 
peace  where  before  there  was  war,  civiHzation  where  before  there  was 
savagery,  and  moraHty  where  before  there  was  immorahty." »     In  many 
instances  missionaries  have  been  the  mediators  between  warhke  nations 
bent  upon  mutual  destruction.^     Native  chiefs  have  often  been  per- 
suaded to  abandon  their  wars  of  conquest  or  revenge,  and  to  favor  a 
policy  of  peace.'     Christianity,  in  fact,  has  now  a  political  as  well  as 
a  social  value,  in  the  estimation  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  islands,  as  a 
restraint  upon  the  passion  for  blood,  and  a  guarantee  of  peaceful  in- 
clinations.*   The  Rev.  William  Gunn,  M.D.,  a  missionary  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  in  the  New  Hebrides,  comments  upon  this  fact 
as  follows:  "Christianity  brings  the  natives  together  in  friendly  and 
peaceable  contact.     In  Christian  Aneityum  the  people  can  travel  with- 
out danger.     When  the  Gospel  began  to  extend,  this  result  was  a  won- 
derful sign  to  those  who  had  formeriy  lived  under  the  influence  of 
heathenism.     Visitors  can  go  to  other  islands  without  fear  of  being 
captured  as  slaves  or  seized  by  cannibals.     To  a  certain  extent  this  is 
true  of  the  whole  group,  but  especially  so  in  the  Christian  and  partially 
Christianized  islands." 

Sir  William  Macgregor,  M.D.,  K.C.M.G.,  upon  the  occasion  of  his 
recent  retirement  from  the  position  of  Governor  of  British  New  Guinea, 
which  he  had  held  for  ten  years,  addressed  a  let- 
ter to  the  resident  missionaries  of  the  London  Soci-   ^".''^^^VnTrrNir 
ety,  in  reply  to  a  resolution  passed  by  them  appre-  Guinea, 

ciative  of  the  wisdom  and  value  of  his  administration. 
His  words  are  weighty  and  of  special  note  as  the  testimony  of  a  govern- 
ment official  of  high  standing.  In  the  course  of  this  letter,  which  was 
dated  August,  1898,  he  remarks:  "It  can  never  be  overiooked  that 
the  pioneers  in  civilising  this  place  were  the  members  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  The  work  of  the  Society  in  this  country  I  prob- 
ably value  higher  than  does  any  other  person,  but  that  is  only  because 
I  know  it  better.  Although  not  the  first  mission  in  this  colony,  it  was 
the  first  that  could  obtain  a  permanent  footing  and  make  its  influence 
felt.  What  your  Mission  has  already  effected  here  in  the  work  of 
humanity  can  never  be  forgotten  or  ignored  in  the  history  of  the  col- 


>  Quoted  in  The  Chronicle,  November,  1898,  pp.  256-258. 

«  Michelsen,  "Cannibals  Won  for  Christ,"  pp.  59,  62. 

»  Cousins,  "The  Story  of  the  South  Seas,"  p.  60;  Paton,  "Autobiography," 
vol.  ii.,  p.  171 ;  The  Missionary  Herald,  December,  1897,  p.  497. 

«  Home,  "The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,"  p.  207;  Michelsen, 
"Cannibals  Won  for  Christ,"  p.  84. 


w.i 


480  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

ony ;  and  the  great  names  of  Chalmers  nnd  Lawes  will  long  continue 
to  be  incentives  to  younger  men  to  keep  the  Mission  up  to  its  former 
and  present  high  standard  of  usefulness,  while  st-adily  enlarging  its 
field.  Will  you  kindly  convey  to  the  ministers  and  teachers  of  the  Mis- 
sion my  sincere  and  cordial  thanks  for  their  loyal  cooperation,  and  as- 
sure them  of  my  lasting  sympathy  with  them  in  their  unselfish  and 
generous  task  in  British  New  Guinea?"  * 

Among  the  Indian  tribes  of  North  and  South  America,  Christian 
missionaries  assume  the  r61e  of  peacemakers.      The  warlike  instincts 
of  these  wild  aborigines,  so  far  as  they  have  come 
Tht  uming  of  Indian    under  the  influence  of  missions,  have  been  tamed, 
warriors.  and  they  have  been  taught  to  love  the  avocations 

of  peace.  The  United  States  Census  Report  for 
1894  says  concerning  the  Indians  of  Alaska  that  'religion  is  doing 
more  to  keep  the  natives  within  peaceful  pursuits  than  all  the  combined 
forces  of  military  and  civil  government."  *  Dr.  Sheldon  Jackson,  in 
an  interesting  account  of  the  venturesome  overland  expedition  sent  by 
the  United  States  Government,  in  the  depths  of  an  arctic  winter  (1897- 
98),  for  the  relief  of  whalers  imprisoned  in  the  ice  near  Point  Barrow, 
on  the  north  coast  of  Alaska,  calls  attention  to  the  influence  of  mission 
work  in  making  travel  safe  among  the  wild  Eskimos  of  those  frozen 
realms.3  The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Reeve,  of  the  Diocese  of  Macken- 
zie River,  in  the  far  Northwest  of  Canada,  speaks  of  the  frequent  wars 
which  formerly  occurred  in  that  section  between  the  Eskimos  and 
the  Indians,  and  asserts  that  since  the  Indians  have  become  Christian- 
ized they   are  no  longer  hostile,  but  fraternize  with  their  Eskimo 

1  Quoted  in  The  Chronicle,  January,  1899,  p.  22. 

»  The  Review  of  Missions,  September,  1898,  p.  149. 

3  "  In  this  connection,"  writes  Dr.  Jackson,  "  it  is  appropriate  to  call  public 
attention  to  the  influence  of  the  mission  schools  in  making  arctic  Alaska  safe  for 
the  transit  of  white  men.  In  1890,  when  the  Congregational  Mission  was  estab- 
lished  at  Cape  Prince  of  Wales,  no  whaler  had  dared  drop  anchor  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  that  village  for  ten  years ;  and  the  stationing  of  missionaries  there  was 
considered  by  the  captains  of  the  whalers  as  a  foolhardy  undertaking.  They  were 
placed  there,  however,  and  now  ships  can  anchor  and  their  crews  go  on  shore  with 
safety.  When,  in  i88i-«3,  Lieutenant  Ray,  United  States  Army,  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  international  polar  expedition  at  Point  Barrow,  a  turret  was  built  at 
one  corner  of  his  house  and  armed  with  cannon  to  protect  his  party  from  the  na- 
tives. Now  the  Presbyterian  Mission  has  so  civilized  the  people  that  no  fortified 
habitation  is  necessary.  The  natives  not  only  provided  the  shipwrecked  sailors 
with  food  from  their  own  scanty  supply,  but  also  with  necessary  fur  clothing.  The 
influence  of  the  missions  made  possible  Lieutenant  Jarvis's  heroic  trip  unarmed." 
—  The  Evangelist,  January  26,  1899. 


■; 


It 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


481 


'- : 


fc-' 


neighbors.*  In  another  article  by  Bishop  Reeve,  in  TAe  Church  Mis- 
sionary Gleaner  for  November,  1896  (p.  167),  he  speaks  of  his  diocese 
as  "  a  country  of  undisturbed  peace." 

Oif  the  Pacific  coast  of  Canada  are  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands, 
inhabited  by  lonely  groups  of  Haida  Indians,  among  whom  the  Church 
^f  issionary  Society  labors.  This  tribe  was  once  known  as  one  of  the 
fiercest  of  the  Northwest.  In  their  little  settlement  of  Massett  at  pres- 
ent there  is  not  a  single  heathen  remaining.  Its  inhabitants  are  en- 
gaged in  peaceable  occupations,  and  live  an  orderly  and  quiet  life.^ 
The  results  of  American  missions  among  the  Indians  of  the  United 
Statesconfirmsthestatement  concerning  the  uniformly  pacific  disposition 
of  Indian  converts  to  Christianity.  It  was  noted  in  connection  with  the 
recent  Exposition  at  Omaha,  in  which  a  thousand  Indians  participated, 
that  only  thirty-five  years  ago  the  town,  then  small  and  unimportant  in 
comparison  with  its  present  dimensions,  was  threatened  by  an  invasion 
of  Sioux  warriors.  It  is  perfectly  safe  to  assert  that  if  the  Indian  tribes 
could  be  converted  en  masse  to  Christianity,  and  receive  just  and  fair 
treatment  from  the  nation,  the  era  of  Indian  wars  would  be  over. 

A  striking  confirmation  of  this  assertion  is  found  in  the  notable  re- 
sults of  missionary  work  among  the  Indians  of  Dakota,  under  the 
direction  of  Bishop  William  Hobart  Hare,  who  has  been  called  the 
"  Apostle  to  the  Sioux."  For  twenty-five  years  he  has  labored  among 
them,  and  during  that  time  he  has  won  over  to  Christianity  more  than 
five  thousand.  Many  of  them  were  famous  warriors,  but  they  have 
long  since  forsaken  the  trail  of  blood,  and  given  themselves  to  peace- 
ful pursuits.  The  annual  assemblage  of  Christian  Indians  from  the 
various  tribes  within  the  bounds  of  Bishop  Hare's  diocese  is  said  to 
represent  "the  largest  number  of  communicants  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  which  gathers  at  any  diocesan  convention  or  con- 
vocation in  all  America."  Out  of  twenty-five  thousand  Indians  with- 
in the  limits  of  the  mission,  over  nine  thousand  have  been  baptized, 
and  nearly  three  thousand  confirmed,  while  about  fifty  churches  and 
chapels  have  been  built,  and  also  four  boarding-schools.  It  would  be 
hard  to  find  a  peace-loving  Indian  who  had  not  in  some  way  been 
touched  by  the  influence  of  Christianity,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  one  is 
not  likely  to  meet  a  Christian  Indian  on  the  war-path.^ 


1  The  Gospel  in  all  Lands,  December,  1894,  p.  539  (qaoted  from  The  Canadian 
Church  Magazine). 

*  Awake,  September,  1898,  p.  103. 

»  See  article  entitled  "  An  Apostle  to  the  Sioux,"  in  The  Nna  Y(»-k  Tribune, 
October  16,  1898. 


482 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


The  story  of  Missionary  Duncan  and  his  Metlakahtla  settlement  on 

the  Pacific  coast  of  Canada  is  well  known.     He  established  there  a 

model  community,  whose  watchword  was  "  Peace," 

A  peacrfui  Indian      and  where  orderly  living  was  secured  in  place  of 

paradiae.  the  turbulent  Savagery  of  the  Indians.     In  1887 

a  colony  from  the  original  settlement  removed  to 

Annette  Island,  which  is  part  of  the  United  States  Territory  of  Alaska. 

The  order,  morality,  and  peace  maintained  among  the  people  of  this 

New  Metlakahtla  are  not  surpassed  in  any  centre  of  civilization.     In 

1888  the  Commissioners  of  the  Canadian  Government,  in  their  report 

on  the  condition  of  disturbed  districts  in  British  Columbia,  stated  that 

the  Metlakahtla  Indians  "  were  in  happy  contrast  to  all  others,  and 

were  a  credit  to  their  instructors."  ^    Similar  testimony  might  be  quoted 

regarding  the  peaceful  developments  among  the  Chaco  Indians  of  South 

America.2 

Among  the  older  civilizations  of  the  Orient,  where  a  measure  of 
respect  for  government  and  the  authority  of  law  exists,  mission  con- 
verts are  in  good  repute  for  their  conscientious- 
Quiet  and  orderly  living  ne^g  and  obedience.     It   is  the  testimony  of  a 

characteriitie  of  Ori-  _  .,     ^   ii»i_      r^r.  •  ^-  t  •   _» 

entai  Chrittiana.  promment  Japanese  that  the  Chnstian  subjects 
of  Japan  are  conspicuous  for  orderly  conduct  and 
faithful  discharge  of  obligation."  In  the  official  "  Statement  of  the 
Nature,  Work,  and  Aims  of  Protestant  Missions  in  China,"  recently 
(1895)  presented  to  the  Emperor,  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  fact  that 
the  Christian  religion  inculcates  obedience  to  civil  rulers.^     Chinese 


1  "Report  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1898,"  p.  430. 

»  TAe  South  Amtrican  Missionary  Magazine,  February,  1898,  p.  29,  May,  1898, 
p.  88;  The  Missionary  Kr.'ie-M  0/ the  IVorld,  October,  1895,  p.  787. 

The  following  practical  evidence  of  the  civilizing  influence  of  missions  among  the 
Chacos  is  at  hand:  "A.  Busk,  Esq.,  an  extensive  landowner  in  Paraguay,  has 
offered  to  the  South  American  Mission  the  free  grant  of  nearly  two  square  miles  of 
territory  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  missionary  settlement.  He  declares  himself 
moved  to  this  by  their  '  extremely  r.itional  and  humane  mode  of  managing  and  civil- 
ising the  Paraguayan  Chaco  Indians,  which  will,  without  question,  be  of  great  ad- 
vantage to  the  Chaco  landowners,  even  leaving  aside  all  philanthropic  motives.' 
He  concludes  his  munificent  offer  in  these  terms  :  'If  I  can  at  any  time  be  of  service 
to  the  Society  I  shall  be  most  happy,  and  I  wish  it  all  prosperity  in  its  workings  in 
the  Paraguayan  Chaco,  which,  if  continued  in  the  way  they  have  been  commenced, 
will  be  of  inestimable  advantage  to  the  Indian  population,  to  those  who  have  pecuni- 
ary interests  in  the  country,  and  to  the  Government  of  Paraguay,  by  transforming 
semi-barbarians  into  peaceable,  law-abiding  citizens."  "—T",*/  Missionary  Record, 
November,  1892,  p.  389. 

3   The  Chinese  Recorder,  February,  1 896,  p.  66. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


483 


ofBcials  acknowledge  that  Christians  are  peaceable,  and  distinguished 
by  quiet  and  sober  living.  In  the  recent  riois  native  converts  not  only 
did  not  participate,  but  exhibited  much  courage  and  loyalty  in  seeking 
to  restrain  the  violent  passions  of  their  countrymen  and  to  protect  for- 
eigners from  the  rage  of  the  mobs.^  Missionaries  from  China  write  of 
the  disposition  on  the  part  of  Christians  to  seek  redress  for  their 
wrongs  through  legal  channels  rather  than  by  violence.  Their  patience 
under  injury  and  their  avoidance  of  lawsuits  are  also  commended. 

In  India,  where  thuggism  and  other  outrages  once  prevailed,  the 
strong  hand  of  British  authority  has  worked  a  mighty  change ;  yet  it 
took  the  Government  thirty  years  to  abolish  these  crimes  by  a  vigorous 
campaign  of  punishment.^  It  is  not  a  rash  statement  to  say  that  the 
genuine  conversion  of  a  community  or  a  tribe  to  Christianity  effectually 
banishes  these  dark  deeds.  Concerning  the  Garos  it  is  stated  that,  as 
the  result  of  mission  work  among  them  (there  were  nine  hundred  bap- 
tisms  in  1897),  "  they  are  now  a  law-abiding  and  peace-loving  people  " ; 
yet  in  1867  the  Commissioner  described  them  as  "bloodthirsty,  des- 
perate, and  incorrigible."  ^ 

Missionaries  from  the  Turkish  Empire  speak  unhesitatingly  of  the 
influence  of  the  Gospel  in  creating  a  respect  for  law  and  promoting  the 
vocations  of  peace.  The  Rev.  Robert  Thomson,  of  Constantinople, 
writes  to  the  author  in  reference  to  Bulgaria,  that  "  the  late  Prime  Min- 
ister,  Mr.  Stambuloff,  officially  endorsed  on  a  certain  document  his 
judgment  that  no  more  loyal  or  law-abiding  citizens  could  be  found 
than  the  Protestants."  * 

J  "  It  is  only  a  few  days  since  that  an  intelligent  Chinaman  made  the  following 
remark:  'If  the  Gospel  you  preach  were  generally  accepted,  we  should  need  no 
prisons,  and  could  do  without  magistrates.'  Native  Christians  are  gradually  earning 
a  good  name  as  law-abiding  citizens,  as  men  and  women  who  can  be  trusted,  and 
whowill  not  wantonly  injure  their  neighbors. "-S.  P.  Barchet,  M.D.  (A.  B.  M.  U.), 
Kinhwa,  China.  C  'o  an  article  entitled  "  The  State  of  Aflairs  in  China:  An 
Inside  View,"  in  T.         iependtnt,  February  9,  1899. 

»  Crooke,  "  The  i.   rth-Western  Provinces  of  India,"  p.  135. 

»  The  Baptist  Missionary  Rrjiew  (Madras),  July,  1898,  p.  271. 

«  Dr.  H.  O.  Dwight  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  of  Constantinople,  reports  the  following 
incident:  "  A  missionary  upon  one  of  his  tours  met  a  Turkish  official,  and  ascer- 
taining that  his  destination  was  the  village  of  Sardoghan,  inquired  of  him  whether 
the  people  of  that  place  were  troublesome.  '  That  village,'  said  the  officer,  '  is  a 
most  curious  case.  The  inhabitants  until  about  ten  years  ago  were  drunii  every 
week,  were  quarrelsome,  and  given  to  all  kinds  of  lascality,  so  that  we  had  several 
of  them  m  prison  almost  all  the  time.  They  have  since  become  quiet,  law-abiding, 
and  respectable,  and  give  us  no  trouble.'  "  Dr.  Dwight's  further  statement  of  the 
(act  that  within  ten  years  past  a  large  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  re- 


484 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  r/iOGAEX": 


The  spirit  of  forgiveness  and  forbearance  which  Christianity  incul- 
cates is  one  secret  of  its  peaceable  trend.     This  directly  reverses  the 
immemorial  heathen  code  of  vengeance  and  re- 
Th.  pattinc  of  blood,  taliation,  which  has  been  the  incentive  to  the  wild, 

fcudi  in  nativt  Chriitian    ,,.,,, 

communitiM.  dark  passions  of  blood-feuds,  to  which  may  be 
traced  so  many  cruel  deeds.  The  biography  of 
the  Rev.  W.  H.  Brett,  for  forty  years  a  missionary  in  British  Guiana, 
contains  several  narratives  of  his  remarkable  success  in  leading  into 
peaceful  relations  "  Uibes  who  formerly  punished  each  other  with  ran- 
corous hatred,  ...  but  are  now  united  in  peace  and  love."  i  Dr. 
Gill,  in  writing  of  Polynesia,  remarks:  "Heathenism  separates  and 
sets  at  enmity  individuals,  families,  and  tribes.  Christianity  unites,  and 
heals  ancient  feuds.  The  /ex  talionis,  or  law  of  blood-revenge,  was  one 
of  the  chief  reasons  why  the  South  Sea  Islanders  were  rapidly  degen- 
erating when  Christianity  arrested  their  downward  progress."  2  In 
place  of  the  lust  of  vengeance  and  the  avenger's  mission,  often  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation,  the  Gospel  doctrine  of  forgiveness 
has  given  hfe  and  security  to  entire  communities. 

Blood-feuds  were  numerous  and  deadly  in  Japan  until  recent  times. 
The  code  of  retaliation  was  so  obligatory  that  "  a  weak  spirit  in  this  re- 
spect was  completely  ostracized."  A  missionary  now  writes:  "The 
very  samurai,  who  gloried  most  in  this  purpose  of  revenge  before  they 
were  brought  under  the  power  of  Christian  enlightenment,  represent 
the  class  which  furnishes  our  best  preachers  of  the  Gospel ;  and  those 
same  preachers  are  the  men  who  plead  for  the  manifestation  of  the  spirit 
of  forgiveness  and  love  taught  by  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Blood- 
feads  have  ceased,  and  men  in  this  land  are  increasingly  inclined  to  find 
their  impulse  to  revenge  controlled  by  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross."'     In 

ferred  to  have  been  converted  to  evangelical  Christianity  and  are  seeking  to  live  as 
their  Bible  teaches  is  a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  curious  phenomenon  which 
puzzled  the  Turkish  official. 

1  Josa,  "  The  Apostle  of  the  Indians  of  Guiana:  A  Memoir  of  the  Life  and 
Labours  of  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Brett,"  pp.  96,  126,  143. 

»  Gill,  "  From  Darkness  to  Light  in  Polynesia,"  p.  382. 

"  The  life  of  the  clan  among  the  ancient  Samoans  entailed  blood-revenge.  With 
the  introduction  of  Christianity,  blood-feuds  were  practically  abolished.  Recently, 
and  whenever  an  outbreak  of  war  revived  heathen  associations  and  aroused  old 
p.issions,  there  has  been  a  renewal  of  the  practice.  But  the  genius  and  spirit  of 
Christianity  have  been  repeatedly  shown  in  the  spirit  of  forgiveness  which  one  and 
another  have  with  their  latest  breath  manifested.  As  the  last  words  of  the  dead  are 
considered  to  be  binding  on  the  living,  this  has  put  an  end  to  the  feud."— Rev. 
J.  E.  Newell  (L.  M.  S.),  Malua  Institution,  Samoa. 

*  Rev.  David  S.  Spencer  (M.  E.  M.  S.),  Nagoya,  Japan. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESULTS  OF  MISSIONS 


485 


China,  Bunna,  and  India,  missionaries  have  often  acted  as  peacemakers. 
''  Sectional  feuds  have  almost  entirely  disappeared,  and  the  brotherhood 
of  the  Karen  race  is  recognized,"  are  the  words  of  the  Rev.  W.  I. 
Price,  of  Henzada.*  Dr.  Robert  Laws,  of  British  Central  Africa,  pro- 
nounces it  "  one  of  the  most  evitlent  blessings  following  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  that  peace  has  been  established  between  tribes  who 
formerly  were  constantly  at  enmity." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  multiply  illustrations,  for  it  seems  to  be  clearly 
demonstrated  by  experience  that  Christian  missions  become  the  har- 
binger of  peace  and  security  wherever  they  enter  turbulent  and  lawless 
communities.  Were  they  triumphant  everywhere,  surely  no  moral  force 
could  be  more  hopefully  relied  upon  to  hasten  throughout  the  earth 
that  day  of  regnant  peace  and  happy  brotherhood  when, 

"  Every  tiger  madness  muzzled,  every  serpent  passion  kill'd, 
Every  grim  ravine  a  garden,  every  blazing  desert  till'd. 
Robed  in  universal  harvest,  up  to  either  pole  she  smiles. 
Universal  ocean  softly  washing  all  her  warless  Islrs." 


In  concluding  this  prolonged  review  of  the  humane  results  of  mis- 
sions, we  feel  confident  that  no  thoughtful  reader  will  fail  to  note  the 
significance  of  these  cumulative  facts  as  illustrating 
this  aspect  of  our  theme.  It  should  be  borne  AioiidbasUformUsion- 
in  mind,  moreover,  that  this  particular  phase  of  •^  opUmUm. 
the  argument  is  only  one  of  several  briefs  of  evi- 
dence brought  forward  under  the  general  title  of  "  Contributions  of 
Christian  Missions  to  Social  Progress,"  yet  is  it  not  clear  that,  were  this 
line  of  proof  our  only  dependence,  it  would  be  no  mean  demonstration 
of  the  benignity,  value,  and  power  of  the  Christian  religion  as  a  social 
force  for  the  betterment  of  mankind?  We  need  not  ignore,  however, 
as  we  close  this  volume,  other  themes  that  have  occupied  our  attention 
—the  moulding  power  of  missions  upon  the  character  and  habits  of  the 
individual,  and  their  ennobling,  purifying,  and  hallowing  influence  in 
family  relationships.  We  may  still  add  to  these  their  heroic  assaults 
upon  every  species  of  brutality  and  outrage,  their  courageous  defense 
of  the  helpless,  their  relief  to  the  distressed,  their  ministrations  to  the 
suffering,  their  wholesome  lessons  in  the  arts  of  clean  and  peaceful  liv- 

1  "  Blood-feuds  have  been  very  prevalent  and  deadly  in  the  mountain  commu- 
nities. Villages  that  have  become  Christian  have  refused  to  keep  up  such  feuds,  an<l 
heathen  villages  with  which  they  were  at  enmity  have  felt  the  influence,  and  allowed 
the  feuds  to  lapse."— Rev.  J.  N.  Cashing,  D.D.  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  Rangoon,  Burma. 


48fl  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

ing,  as  recounted  in  this  final  review  of  their  humanitarian  victories, 
and  we  have  an  expanding  record  of  social  progress  for  which  Christians 
may  well  thank  God  and  take  courage.  There  are  also  other  consid- 
erations  of  solid  worth  to  be  presented  in  a  subsequent  volume. 

Is  it  not  evident  that,  of  all  "Good  Workmen"  whom  the  Master 
owns,  the  Christian  missionary  is  the  one  who  could  least  be  spared  by 
the  sinful,  ignorant,  and  suffering  millions  of  mankind?  Though  he 
toils  in  comparative  obscurity,  amid  many  difficulties  and  discourage- 
ments,  yet  he,  of  all  human  seers,  has  the  vision  of  assurance  in  re- 
sponse to  the  poet's  question : 

"  After  all  the  stormy  changes,  shall  we  find  a  changeless  May?  " 

He  knows  that  he  is  sowing  the  seeds  of  a  nobler  life  for  the  race. 
He  is  confident  that  the  God  of  spiritual  har\-ests  will  make  fruitful  his 
desert  planting,  and  that  the  moral  springtide  of  the  world  will  surely 
come,  when  "the  Sun  of  Righteousness  shall  arise  with  healing  in  His 
wings."  In  that  high  service  of  man  which  reaches  the  lowest  depths 
of  his  need,  and  searches  for  him  in  the  dark  and  distant  haunts  of  his 
degradation,  a  place  of  rare  honor  may  surely  be  assigned  to  the 
messengers  of  Christ  among  unenlightened  races.  Into  their  hands 
have  been  entrusted  the  priceless  treasures  of  the  Gospel,  the  hopes,  de- 
lights, and  incentives  of  moral  culture,  and  all  the  nobler  possibilities 
of  a  true  civilization.  They  are  the  bearers  of  the  choicest  gifts  of 
God  into  the  sterile  and  impoverished  life  of  the  old  social  systems. 

"  Poor  world!  if  thou  cravest  a  better  day. 
Remember  that  Christ  must  have  His  own  way; 
I  mourn  thou  art  not  as  thou  mightest  be, 
But  the  love  of  God  would  do  all  for  thee." 


I  5 


